President Chen Shui-bian vowed yesterday to push for a national referendum on Taiwan's bid to join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan regardless of support or opposition from the United States. He also emphasized the importance of having allies in the international community.
Chen made the remarks in San Salvador, El Salvador, when talking to members of Taiwan media traveling with him on his three-nation Central American visit since Aug. 21.
He said the key to the issue lies in Taiwan's domestic domain and people on the island but not the American attitude.
Chen's answers were made in response to a reporter's inquiry of whether it was wise to prompt Taiwan-U.S. relations into a dangerous quagmire as the Bush administration may adopt a series of punitive measures, including lobbying Taiwan's diplomatic allies to quit backing, or even vote against, his U.N. bid.
When asked about how he felt about U.S. treatment of his stopover, he re-emphasized that his personal suffering is not important.
Chen's brief stopover in Alaska when flying to Central America was interpreted by some as Washington's signal for him to exercise certain restraint. Others blamed him for bungling the ties with Taiwan's most important ally with self-inflicted humiliation.
But Chen apologized to all others accompanying him on the trip. He said he felt bad because all of them could not have a good night's sleep to adjust to the jet lag with a stopover on the U.S. mainland.
When meeting with William Brown, the honorary chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), during his transit stop in Alaska several days ago, Chen explained that he had worn formal attire, including suit trousers and leather shoes.
If there is room for improvement for next time, Chen said he should have offered tea or at least chocolate to a friend who called on him late in the night.
Concerning the U.N. issue, Chen explained that it is impossible for him to use his position as president to call off the referendum that was entirely initiated by the people from the bottom up.
Furthermore, he said the referendum planned by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration has already passed the legal hurdles and has been approved by the Central Election Commission in accordance with the National Referendum Law.
The referendum is to give Taiwan people a unified voice on the U.N. issue and let the whole world know the peoples' common wish, he said.
Although U.S. support or opposition is not important, as "the big brother" of the democratic community, Chen said, the U.S. should respect Taiwan's democratic choice.
Unlike other controversial issues that need referendums to arrive at a verdict, joining the U.N. is among those issues that have support from the majority of people living in Taiwan, whether a referendum is held or not, according to analysts.
Citing recent public opinion surveys, Chen said the polls show that 77 percent of the Taiwan people want to see the country become a member of the U.N.
Chen said during his chat with AIT Honorary Chairman Brown, he was told that in 1971, when Beijing was given the "China seat" in the United Nations, George H.W. Bush -- then U.S. ambassador to the U.N. -- proposed that Taiwan and China be admitted at the same time.
However, the then Kuomintang (KMT) administration rejected the proposal and insisted on leaving the U.N. in the face of Beijing's presentation, Chen quoted Brown as saying.
He added that the KMT made the wrong decision and said
the whole country is suffering the consequences.
The ruling DPP administration would choose to accept dual recognition and would not mind if Taiwan's allies also maintained diplomatic relations with China. "Taiwan is much more magnanimous than China," he claimed.
Concerning domestic criticisms about offering generous foreign aid while ignoring the plight of people in Taiwan, Chen said that Taiwan "cannot afford to not maintain diplomatic relations with all the countries in the world."
He said that having no allies would adversely affect national morale.
Chen explained that if Taiwan maintains no formal ties with any countries, it would immediately become "an international orphan" and national morale would be smashed completely.
He said that the number of countries maintaining formal ties with Taiwan is changeable, but it would be unacceptable for Taiwan to maintain no formal ties and that such a scenario would be "impossible."
All people would understand this when they become rulers of the nation, he said.
The former KMT administration had done exactly in the past what he is doing now, he added.
Presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition KMT pointed out that President Chen lavishly spent taxpayers' money without anticipated results.
Even some of the nation's allies were reluctant to include the issue of backing Taiwan's U.N. bit into communiques, he said.
He said the problem lies in Chen's loss of credibility and trust of allies, including the U.S., mainly due to his persistent push for Taiwan independence to spark new and unnecessary tension.
KMT spokesman Su Chun-bing noted that the party never criticized humanitarian aid abroad.
The former KMT administration led by former presidents, including Lee Teng-hui, had provided foreign assistance based on the principle of humanitarian aid, he explained.
He said the DPP administration's offering "political donations" to specific politicians in foreign nations has undermined the work and efforts of officials in charge of foreign affairs.
This is why even after increasing the sum of money in the name of foreign aid, no Taiwan officials handling foreign affairs dare to guarantee that the sum spent would definitely cement ties with certain allies, said analysts.
Sources said that Chen and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs suffered another setback after Panama rejected a request for him to make a brief stopover there.
Chen will travel on to Nicaragua Aug. 26. He is set to return to Taipei Aug. 29.
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