President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) continued to push for the referendum on Taiwan's bid to join the UN under the name "Taiwan" yesterday, saying that a vote on the bid would generate at least four major influences, including a re-evaluation of the "one China" policy by the US.
Under the influence of the Taiwan UN-bid referendum, Chen calculated that Washington would review the "one China" policy it has followed for decades in favor of the People's Republic of China and consider whether the US should politically recognize both China and Taiwan.
Chen made the remarks while speaking at an event marking the sixth anniversary of the Taiwan Heart Association, established in 2001 by Vice President Annette Lu (
The president said he believes that the passage of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-initiated UN bid referendum will be very helpful in terms of winning US support for Taiwan.
Chen also claimed that the referendum would help to ensure the success of the DPP presidential ticket of Frank Hsieh (
In the wake of the UN-bid referendum, he added, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would increasingly "localize" itself and would probably change its name to the "Taiwan KMT."
Faced with a successful referendum on the UN bid, Chen claimed that China would no longer insist on the "one China" prerequisite for cross-strait negotiations, which would be conducive to the signing of a genuine bilateral peace accord.
The DPP-proposed referendum is slated to be held together with the presidential election on March 22.
As of Friday, Chen said, the DPP referendum initiative had collected 1.38 million endorsement signatures. The party expects to reach the 2 million target by the end of this month.
If 8 million eligible voters cast "yes" ballots next year, Chen said he is convinced that the percentage of Americans who support Taiwan's UN bid will increase from 55 percent to 70 percent.
Should that be the case, Chen said, the US Congress and the White House will feel the pinch of public opinion in the US and eventually change their attitudes and lend support to Taiwan's UN bid.
At a separate event, Chen said on Saturday that Taiwan would stand a better chance of persuading the US to support its bid to join the UN if the referendum proposal passes.
Chen made the remarks while attending a prayer service at the Eastgate Presbyterian Church in Tainan. The prayer service was held to ask for God's blessing for the country's quest for UN membership.
Chen said that insisting on Taiwan's separate identity and pursuing social justice are his fundamental policy values.
Despite US concerns over the referendum, Chen said he would not waver because he believed it was the right path for Taiwan to follow.
"So long as we have confidence in Taiwan, its people and democracy, we will succeed eventually," he said.
When the country's first-ever referendum was held alongside the 2004 presidential election, Chen recalled that the opposition camp pulled out all the stops to boycott the plebiscite. Still, some 7 million voters cast ballots in the referendum on issues regarding the country's defense.
This time around, Chen said, even the KMT is pushing for a referendum on whether the country should "rejoin" the UN under its official title, "Republic of China."
All these developments represent the progress made in Taiwan's democratic development, Chen said. He added that he firmly believes that the passage of the DPP-initiated UN bid referendum will be very helpful to lobby for US support for the cause.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
KONG-REY: A woman was killed in a vehicle hit by a tree, while 205 people were injured as the storm moved across the nation and entered the Taiwan Strait Typhoon Kong-rey slammed into Taiwan yesterday as one of the biggest storms to hit the nation in decades, whipping up 10m waves, triggering floods and claiming at least one life. Kong-rey made landfall in Taitung County’s Chenggong Township (成功) at 1:40pm, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The typhoon — the first in Taiwan’s history to make landfall after mid-October — was moving north-northwest at 21kph when it hit land, CWA data showed. The fast-moving storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 184kph, with gusts of up to 227kph, CWA data showed. It was the same strength as Typhoon Gaemi, which was the most
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