TAIPEI — Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian on Tuesday defended his plan for a controversial referendum on UN membership for the island, a move deemed provocative by Washington and Beijing.
Chen said Taiwan would continue on the path to democracy, which he called a “road of no return for the 23 million people in Taiwan.”
To that end, the independence-minded president said he would pursue plans to hold a referendum on United Nations membership, which he described as a symbol of fundamental human rights.
“Whether one likes it or not, the people of Taiwan are entitled to the right of referendum,” Chen told the opening session of an international seminar on human rights in Tibet.
Chen plans to hold the referendum — on whether the island should apply to join the UN under the name “Taiwan” — alongside the presidential election on March 22 next year, despite warnings from Washington and Beijing.
Names and titles are highly sensitive in the row between Taiwan and China.
The island, under its official name the Republic of China, lost its UN seat to China in 1971. Its efforts to rejoin using its official title have been repeatedly blocked by Beijing.
Chen insisted Taiwan’s future should be decided by the people rather than Beijing and its “one China principle,” which says the island is part of China awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war. Beijing has repeatedly threatened to invade the island should it declare formal independence.
After talks in Sydney ahead of the annual APEC forum summit last week, the US and Chinese presidents on Thursday set aside their differences on Taiwan and put pressure on the island to drop the referendum plans.
US President George W. Bush and China’s Hu Jintao warned Taipei that the proposed UN membership vote was provocative, and Hu warned that it could propel the region into a “possibly dangerous period.”
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