Cho Jung-tai, Presidential Office acting secretary-general, said at a news conference that the president and the administration will make the most of the rights that the law has empowered them to exercise under the prerequisite of safeguarding Taiwan’s security and sovereignty.

Cho said that the president and the administration also hope that the general public as well as opposition parties will support the initiatives designed to boost Taiwan’s national identity and patriotism.

Yu called a news conference earlier in the day to say that he will probably ask President Chen to initiate a “defensive” referendum in the face of Beijing’s mounting efforts to eventually annex Taiwan.

Yu said that if China moves to deal with Taiwan based on the anti-secession law over the country’s campaign to join the United Nations as a full member under the name of “Taiwan, “ he will ask President Chen to initiate a nationwide referendum on issues regarding Taiwan’s defense against China’s increasing military threat and diplomatic suppression of Taiwan.

Yu said he does not exclude the possibility of asking the president to initiate a referendum on Taiwan independence to demonstrate Taiwan’s determination in countering China’s hegemonic attitude toward Taiwan.

Quoting an online report yesterday, Yu said that Yu Keli, director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said recently that if a referendum on the U.N. membership bid were to be held in Taiwan and over half of the Taiwanese people endorsed the U.N. membership bid, China will move to counteract against the result.

The report also said that Beijing will pull out all the stops, including asking the United States, Japan and the European Union to exert pressure on Taiwan and to stop Taiwan from holding a referendum next year on Taiwan’s bid to enter the U.N. as a full member under the name of “Taiwan.”

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