Taiwan Referendum Faces Boycott

Opposition Move Likely to Doom U.N. Membership Measure

TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 12 -- Taiwan's main opposition group, the Nationalist Party, called on its supporters Wednesday to boycott a government-sponsored referendum asking whether the island should apply for U.N. membership under the name Taiwan.

The appeal reduced chances that the referendum measure would succeed, news likely to be greeted with relief in Beijing and Washington. China and the United States have denounced the referendum as a needlessly provocative maneuver, designed by President Chen Shui-bian and his Democratic Progressive Party to emphasize the self-ruled island's claim to formal independence from China.

The referendum will be held in tandem with Taiwan's March 22 presidential contest between Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalist Party and Frank Hsieh of the Democratic Progressive Party. The vote is largely symbolic, as the United Nations is unlikely to admit Taiwan as a member, experts say.

On Wednesday, Nationalist Party Chairman Wu Po-hsiung denounced the addition of the referendum measure as an attempt by Chen to drum up support for his party by waving the independence flag.

"This would create immeasurable damage to the situation in the Taiwan Strait," Wu warned. "It has aroused strong opposition in the international community, which views it as a serious provocation involving changing the nation's name and status quo. This would make Taiwan even more isolated and marginalized internationally, impacting the security and interests of our 23 million compatriots."

Wu said the Nationalist Party would continue to support the holding of a separate referendum on U.N. membership. That measure, also on the March 22 ballot, will ask whether Taiwan should seek admission to the United Nations under its official name, the Republic of China, or any other name deemed suitable.

The second referendum was proposed several months ago by the Nationalist Party in a bid to thwart Chen's effort. Hoping to avoid being branded as anti-nationalist, the party has since decided not to press voters to boycott both referendums, as it had considered doing.

Philip Yang, a political scientist at National Taiwan University, said the Nationalist Party's boycott call means Chen's referendum measure faces an uphill battle. More than half of registered voters must support a referendum measure for it to pass, he noted, and polls show that Nationalist supporters outnumber Chen's.

The Nationalists' proposal is equally unlikely to pass, but it is considered less inflammatory since it sticks with the island's official name and thus is not considered an indirect attempt to move toward independence.