President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen has closely tied his campaign for re-election to the contentious referendum questions, which will ask whether Taiwan should increase its defenses against the nearly 500 Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan and if the foes should open talks. Beijing sees the ballot as a dry run for a future vote on independence, which it says could lead to war.
In an interview with Wealth magazine published yesterday, Chen said an opinion poll by his Democratic Progressive Party found that more than 50 percent of voters would support the referendum and that he would win a second four-year term.
"The referendum will definitely pass the 50-percent mark," Chen told the magazine.
"As long as we are on the right side of history, more people will come out and support it despite some confusion and doubts," he said.
A weekend public opinion poll by the China Times found that 37.6 percent of 3,391 voters polled would not pick up a referendum ballot.
The referendum will be rendered void if fewer than 50 percent of voters fill out a referendum ballot. Merely picking up the ballot will count as participating; filling out the ballot is not necessary.
Chen said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) will damage his chances in the closely fought election if his party by boycotting the referendum.
"If you reject the referendum today, you will eventually be rejected by the people," Chen said.
Lien, who has said he will not vote in the referendum, has avoided calling for a boycott lest the move be labelled anti-democratic. But the KMT has begun airing television advertisements urging voters to refuse to cast referendum ballots.
Chen told the magazine he would be re-elected with more than 50 percent of votes this time.
Chen said that China, after ignoring him for four years, would have no choice but to deal with him if he wins a second term.
"I will not sell out the people. But there are areas where I can be flexible," Chen said.
"Communist China can wait four years, but it can't wait eight years," Chen said.
Lien has presented himself as the man to solve the nation's economic problems and said in an interview with the same magazine that the country could not afford to waste time on political squabbles.
Favoring a more conciliatory policy toward China, Lien has said Taiwan must transform itself into a free-trade zone to counter China's growing economic might.
"We are small so we can't confine ourselves and lock ourselves out," he told the magazine.
"China is such a big market and manufacturer. Everyone is making money there except for us," he said.
"It can be a win-win situation," Lien said.
Lien has called for a free-trade zone with China, saying economic integration would lead to political rapprochement.
By contrast, Chen says Taiwan will lose its bargaining power in political negotiations with China if it becomes too economically dependent on China. Taiwanese companies have poured an estimated US$100 billion into China since the 1980s.
Lien has called for hundreds of thousands of supporters to join nationwide rallies on Saturday to protest Chen's four-year rule and demand better relations with China.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and