President Chen Shui-bian (
Hsieh, who met with Chen yesterday, told reporters after the DPP's weekly Central Standing Committee meeting that Chen had conveyed his views on the matter to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
If the Legislative Yuan wants to propose a third referendum proposal, it must do so before Feb. 22, or that would only leave Chen with the choice to launch a defensive referendum.
Article 17 of the Referendum Law (
A defensive referendum is a presidential prerogative and does not require the consent of the legislature but only ratification by the Executive Yuan.
The DPP has proposed holding a referendum on applying to join the UN using the name "Taiwan," while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has suggested another referendum on "rejoining" the world body using the country's official name -- the Republic of China (ROC) -- or any other "practical" title that would uphold the nation's dignity.
Hsieh, who doubles as DPP chairman, has proposed that Chen call a meeting to discuss the matter with the chairmen or representatives of the DPP and the KMT to hammer out a resolution that both sides would find acceptable.
Hsieh said the president told him he was still waiting for the legislature's decision as Wang was still negotiating with the legislative caucuses.
In response, Hsieh said that although the DPP's position is to support its own referendum initiative, he would like to see the party's supporters back both propositions.
The bottom-line is both proposals should be successful, Hsieh said.
Hsieh has said earlier that if both proposals fail to be validated, it might give the global community the impression that Taiwanese are not interested in joining the world body.
As to the question of whether he would let Chen campaign for him, Hsieh said he welcomed Chen's support if it would not affect the president's job and administrative neutrality.
Hsieh said they had reached an agreement that the president would participate in a cross-country walk organized by Tainan County Commissioner Su Huan-chih (
Su, who doubles as the director of the DPP's Tainan campaign office, suggested that the president take part in the walk along Taiwan's western corridor to drum up support for the DPP's referendum proposal.
Hsieh had earlier said he did not think it was a good idea for Chen to attend the event as it might inconvenience the public.
Meanwhile, Wang yesterday confirmed that the DPP had made some propositions that were "more neutral" regarding a third UN referendum.
When approached by reporters in the legislature, Wang said the DPP had not finalized the content of its suggestion, but "so far [the wording] is much more neutral than the two [current UN] referendums."
Wang was asked for comment following his confirmation on Tuesday that the DPP had proposed the content of a third UN referendum when he met with the president on Monday.
Reports in the Chinese-language United Daily News and the China Times yesterday both quoted an unidentified source as saying that the DPP might have sought to include neutral wording such as "we are a sovereign state, not a province of the People's Republic of China and we have the right to join the UN" in the proposal.
Wang, however, declined to confirm on the content yesterday, only saying that such a "neutral" UN referendum should be launched by the legislature.
"Everyone agrees that the legislature can propose a [UN] plebiscite including content that is acceptable to both parties ... I think such a move would be even more neutral," he said.
Wang said he had communicated the DPP's suggestion to KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), but he did not know whether the KMT would accept it or not.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
RSS