The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday urged the public to support its referendum on "rejoining" the UN and boycott the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) referendum on joining the world body.
The two referendums will be held together with the presidential election next Saturday.
KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) lashed out at President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) for using the referendum to manipulate the presidential election and provoke the US, which has expressed its opposition to the DPP's pursuit of "name change via the referendum."
"The DPP referendum has brought danger across the Taiwan Strait and squeezed Taiwan's international space," Wu said, announcing the KMT's decision after a meeting of the Central Standing Committee at party headquarters.
The DPP referendum proposes joining the UN using the name "Taiwan," while the KMT initiative calls for rejoining the world body under the name "Republic of China" or any other "practical title" that upholds the nation's dignity.
Wu said that the KMT-initiated referendum was an expression of the public's desire to join the UN and other international organizations in a flexible and pragmatic way without damaging US-Taiwan relations.
Wu and KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou's (
"Although the KMT's version was presented by KMT vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (
KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (
While urging voters to support the KMT's referendum bid, Wu said the party would respect members who boycott both referendums.
"We understand and respect such a stance. They plan to boycott both referendums as a protest against the president's manipulation of referendums," Wu said.
In response to Chen's offer to decouple the referendums from the presidential election in return for lowering the voting threshold for referendums, Wu said the threshold was set by the legislature and the KMT would not respond to the president's unreasonable request.
Wu said the party was willing to review the Referendum Law (公投法) after the election, but not now.
The Referendum Law requires a 50 percent voter turnout -- or approximately 8 million voters -- for the results to be declared valid.
Wu also promised to continue pushing a KMT proposal called "Taiwanese People's Demand to Join the UN" in the legislature.
In response to the KMT's decision, the DPP legislative caucus yesterday urged the KMT and its supporters to respect the spirit of democracy and participate in both referendums.
"The KMT is more than welcome to encourage its supporters to support or veto either of the two referendums but, please, do not give up your rights for both," DPP caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) said at a press conference.
Lai said that the KMT's proposal had been endorsed by more than 1 million people and boycotting it would mean contradicting itself.
"You can vote no, but you should participate in the referendum. That is the message we would like to deliver to the KMT and its supporters," Lai said.
Meanwhile, DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) campaign team yesterday lambasted the KMT for its contradictory position and "two-faced tactics" on the referendum.
"On the one hand, it seems it is in favor of the referendum, but on the other, it is boycotting it. This is dishonest," Hsieh spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (
As a responsible party, the KMT owes the public a clear account on where it stood or it would be cheating its supporters, Cheng said.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling and Jimmy Chuang
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS