Taiwan will hold a national referendum on March
20 on two topics: one on the need to counter the Chinese
missile threat and another on the building of a
framework for peace and stability across the Taiwan
Strait. Even though there has been plenty of pan-blue
criticism by the pan-blue opposition and skepticism
surrounding the referendum, the vote on the issues will
be a historical landmark in Taiwan's political
development.
Ever since the beginning of
Taiwan's democratization in the late 1980s, the term
"referendum" was most often equated with an
"independence referendum" or one formally to separate
Taiwan and China. But after the Democratic Progressive
Party (DPP) adopted the "resolution regarding Taiwan's
future" in 1999, which formally recognizes the status
quo across the Taiwan Strait, the need for an
independence referendum no longer exists.
After
the DPP freed itself from the "Taiwan independence
platform" through formally recognizing the status quo,
referendums became a useful mechanism to resolve some
long-standing issues. That was the reason the earlier
proposals to hold a referendum on the Fourth Nuclear
Power Plant, legislative reform, and World Health
Organization participation received extremely high
support among Taiwanese.
Using referendums to
reform the Legislative Yuan in particular has received
nearly unanimous support from the public. This is not
surprising, because the public perception of the
legislature is far from ideal. Surveys indicate that the
Legislative Yuan is competing fiercely with the media
for the No 1 position as the source of Taiwan's
problems. Of course Taiwan needs referendums as a
democratic instrument for decision-making.
As
the two proposed topics for referendum evidence
themselves, the Taiwanese can exercise direct democracy
without touching upon the sensitive sovereignty issues
that are likely to ignite cross-Strait conflict.
Referendums can not only be useful instruments to
resolve internal debates, they also can pave the way for
cross-Strait dialogue and negotiations.
Referendum law a victory for
democracy The passage of the Taiwan Referendum
Law last November was significant. It was another
victory for Taiwanese democracy after the development of
freedom of speech, the establishment of an opposition
party, the removal of martial law and the emergency
degree, forceful retirement of lawmakers elected in
China, and direct election of the president.
Records show that the attitude and approach of
those who tried in the past to deter Taiwan from moving
ahead were similar to those of today.
Actually,
the anti-democracy politicians remain similar. People
First Party (PFP) leader James Soong, the pan-blue
vice-presidential candidate, used to serve as the
director of the government information office under
martial law and he strongly defended the Chinese
Nationalist Party's (Kuomintang, or KMT) brutal
suppression of the opposition. Back in 1994, Ma
Ying-jeou, now the mayor of Taipei, fought against the
popular election of the president and he is now leading
the crusade to crush the first ever referendum in
Taiwan.
The pan-blue (the popular designation
for the PFP-KMT alliance) critics and skeptics continue
to charge that holding the March 20 referendum is
illegal and unnecessary, and will cause a cross-Strait
crisis. It is even quietly telling the international
community that this referendum is the crony of Taiwan
independence and the DPP is paving the way for an
independence referendum. They are of course lying just
to stop Taiwan moving forward. But eventually, the
Taiwanese people's passionate pursuit of democracy will
prevail.
Are the two topics of the referendum
either divisive or difficult as some critics portray?
Legislative Yuan records show that some pan-blue
politicians enjoy slashing the budget for military
procurement of any kind. It leads to repeated questions
from the US government about whether Taiwan is
determined to defend itself.
Su Chi, former
chairman of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council and chief
foreign/cross-Strait policy adviser to KMT chairman Lien
Chan, is leading the argument that "Taiwan doesn't face
a threat" (as argued in the Washington Post, January
17). This is an extremely peculiar and unquestionably
dangerous argument when China is pointing some 500
missiles at Taiwan. But this argument has been the basis
for the pan-blues' boycott of the defense budget. Of
course Taiwan needs a referendum topic like the one
President Chen Shui-bian proposed to settle the issue.
Meanwhile, the topic of "framework for peace and
stability" may or may not be divisive, but it is
definitely difficult because of a serious lack of
progress on cross-Strait dialogue in the past few years.
Chen is daring China to respond to his initiative on the
framework, with details provided in his press
conference.
If the people in Taiwan agree with
what the president proposed as the "framework for peace
and stability", the referendum will have a binding
effect on the government no matter who wins the
presidential race. The peace referendum is of course
necessary, and it will certainly be an important page in
the history of cross-Strait relations.
The DPP
was fighting for Taiwan's democracy even before that
democracy came into being. The DPP has always been the
key impetus to democratization, with the KMT
authoritarianism and its remnant as the key obstacle.
But the DPP has overcome every obstacle so far, and will
again overcome the obstacle lying ahead of Taiwan's
first exercise in direct democracy.
Joseph
Wu is deputy secretary general to the president of
Taiwan. He can be reached at dswu@mail.oop.gov.tw.
This article originally appeared in the Taipei Times
on February 4 and is used by permission of Pacific Forum CSIS.
