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KMT colluding with China on boycott of referendum: FAPA

A US-based pro-Taiwan independence group on Friday said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was colluding with China in suppressing Taiwan after the party' decided to boycott an upcoming referendum on Taiwan's bid to join the UN.

Bob Yang (楊英育), president of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), said the KMT move would not only humiliate Taiwan's democracy but also upset Taiwan's efforts to expand its participation in the international community.

"This makes us doubt which side of the Taiwan Strait the KMT is standing on," Yang said.

Yang described as "wrong" the criticism that the main purpose for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) promoting a referendum alongside the presidential election is to rally support for the party's election campaign.

The DPP's UN bid referendum had three meanings, Yang said. It allows the international community to be aware of the Taiwanese people's aspiration for UN membership, tells the world that Taiwan has no desire to become a part of China's totalitarian regime and protests China's unreasonable military and diplomatic suppression of Taiwan.

Two referendums on the UN issue -- one each by the KMT and the DPP -- are set to be held alongside Saturday's presidential election. While the DPP's version advocates joining the UN under the name "Taiwan," the KMT's initiative calls for regaining UN membership under the country's official title, the "Republic of China," or other "practical" title.

Accusing the DPP of manipulating the referendum issue to boost the party's chances of winning the presidential election, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) announced on Wednesday that the party would call on the public to boycott the DPP-backed referendum.

The move will likely lead to the failure of the referendum, which requires participation by at least 50 percent of the electorate and support of more than 50 percent of participating voters to pass.
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