The irony of the referendum issue is a pipe dream

Trouble with China

Chen Shui-bian's drive to remodel Taiwan has proved divisive among voters [EPA]

But it is Chen's stormy relationship with China that appears to have most weakened support for the DPP.

Beijing suspects that Chen's campaign of promoting Taiwan's cultural identity represents a drive for independence through stealth. Cross-strait ties have remained in deep freeze during his presidency.

Chen has turned down Beijing's offer of a cross-Taiwan Strait peace accord under the "one-China" framework, dismissing the idea as part of a scheme by China to downgrade and annex Taiwan.

Hsieh, carrying the DPP's hopes in Saturday's election, had made a marked departure from Chen's antagonistic stance towards China.

On Friday, the former human rights lawyer said if elected he would resume dialogue with Beijing, arguing that the time has come for cross-strait compromise.

He has promised to negotiate direct air links with China and open up Taiwan to mainland tourists, following negligible progress in these areas during Chen’s term.

His move echoes frontrunner Ma's strong campaign calling for improved economic ties with the mainland.

The KMT candidate, a Harvard-trained lawyer and former mayor of Taipei, has proposed forging an unprecedented European Union-style common market between Taiwan and China.

Ma insists that improved cross-strait ties are necessary for Taiwan to ramp up its slugglish economy.

During the past few years, Taiwan's economic performance has lagged in comparison with a number of its "little dragon" peers, including Singapore and Hong Kong.

If elected president, Ma has promised annual growth rates of six percent, similar to annual figures during the decade before the DPP took power, and up from the currently estimated rate of 4.5 percent.

Calls by both candidates for improved cross-strait ties follow signs that many inside and outside of Taiwan are tired of Chen's abrasive politics.

'Sovreign states'

A referendum backed by Chen that would authorise seeking UN membership as "Taiwan" rather than under the island's legal name, Republic of China, has irked both China and the US, Taiwan's most powerful ally.

Chen has called on the electorate to vote on two referendums supporting Taiwan's entry into the United Nations.

He says the poll is is necessary to show the world that Taiwanese object to China's suppression of Taiwan's right to participate in the international community.

"We should speak out loud and tell the international community that Taiwan and the People's Republic of China are two sovereign states independent of each other," he said recently, arguing that "Taiwan's future should be determined by Taiwan's 23 million people."

Chen's remarks were made in an apparent attempt to prevent a possible failure of the referendums, which require the participation of at least 50 per cent, or 8.7 million, of the electorate and the support of more than 50 per cent of participating voters in order to be passed.

The referendums were initiated respectively by the DPP and the KMT.

The DPP's version advocates joining the UN under the name Taiwan, while the KMT's initiative calls for regaining UN membership under the country's official title, the Republic of China, or any other "pragmatic" name.

Unlike the DPP, which is urging the electorate to support both referendums, the KMT is calling for a boycott of the DPP-backed referendum, a move seen likely to increase the chances of failure of both.

The irony of the referendum issue is that whichever way the vote goes, China's veto-wielding power at the UN means Taiwan's entry into the global body is little more than a pipe dream.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/ADB07334-4612-4E9C-92AC-FD4E909CD883.htm