紐約時報用網頁第三條頭條報導... ================================================================ Taiwan Passes Independence Referendum Law By KEITH BRADSHER Published: November 27, 2003 AIPEI, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 28 — Taiwan's legislature took a half-step back on Thursday night from an immediate confrontation with China, passing a bill that would allow national referendums on constitutional and sovereignty issues only under very narrow circumstances. Chinese officials had tried to dissuade Taiwanese politicians from endorsing any bill to provide for referendums, but had devoted most of their criticisms to a rival measure, supported by President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan, that would have made it easy for him to call referendums. Most provisions of that bill were defeated in the legislature on Thursday night. Chinese and American officials had feared that legislation permitting a referendum on Taiwanese independence from the mainland would lead to a showdown in the Taiwan Straits that neither China nor the United States wants now. China is trying to pay more attention to economic growth, especially in its interior provinces, while the United States has been preoccupied with Iraq and with seeking China's cooperation in trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. The Bush administration has reaffirmed repeatedly the principle that there is one China encompassing Taiwan and the mainland, but Chinese officials have called for the United States to do more. China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has threatened to use military force to prevent it from becoming a fully independent nation. Mr. Chen and his Democratic Progressive Party have tried to move Taiwan gingerly toward somewhat greater independence status and had sought a referendum bill for that purpose. But most of the provisions in the final bill came from amendments by the opposition, which opposes full independence and has more seats in the politically fractured legislature than Mr. Chen's party. Even a narrowly written referendum bill could still irk Beijing's leaders, by establishing a precedent for holding any referendums at all on what Beijing regards as Chinese soil. The final bill bars referendums on changing the flag of Taiwan or Taiwan's official name, the Republic of China. The legislation also makes it extremely hard to hold a referendum to amend the constitution and bars referendums to draft a new or completely rewritten constitution. Following approval of the bill, lawmakers from Mr. Chen's party were so upset that they tried to schedule additional votes to undo it. They contended the law involved an unconstitutional transfer of power from the executive branch to the legislature, by allowing the legislature to call referendums but making it hard for the president to do so. "There are certain items we find unacceptable," Hsiao Bi-khim, a member of the legislature who is the director of the party's international policy division, said in a telephone interview. She said President Chen might veto the bill if it survives. A government spokesman said the executive branch would issue no comment on the legislation at least until Friday. A provision that could still cause some dismay in Beijing is one allowing Taiwan's president to call a referendum on "national security" if the island were faced with a clear foreign threat to national security that could erode Taiwan's territorial integrity. Even this provision stopped short of explicitly allowing a referendum on independence. Dozens of other provisions were adopted at the suggestion of the Nationalist Party and its smaller ally, the People First Party, which favor an eventual reunification with the mainland. Justin Chou, a spokesman for the Nationalist Party, said that the party was "very happy with the result" of Thursday's voting. The party was not acting because of the threats from China but because of what it saw as the best course for Taiwan, he added. There was no immediate reaction to the bill from Beijing, where officials sometimes mull events in Taiwan for a day or two before issuing a response. Zhang Mingqing, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of China's State Council, had warned in a televised news conference on Wednesday in Beijing that if the legislature passed a broad bill allowing a referendum on independence with no limits, "We will make a strong reaction." The Nationalist Party and People First Party have long resisted the passage of any referendum bill, describing it as unnecessary and possibly dangerous given President Chen's separatist tilt. They changed their position earlier this month, favoring a referendum bill provided it were carefully circumscribed. The parties changed tack after the lead in the polls for the presidential candidate from the Nationalist Party, Lien Chan, and his vice-presidential running mate from the People First Party, James Soong, started to evaporate as Mr. Chen appealed to anti-China sentiment. Polls this month have suggested that while Mr. Lien and Mr. Soong may still have a lead, the race is too close to call. The most important provision of Thursday's bill would make it hard for President Chen to hold a referendum to amend the constitution, unless the amendments had already been approved by three-quarters of the legislature and the legislature scheduled the referendum. Assembling even a simple majority of the legislature, much less three-quarters, is very hard in Taiwan's faction-ridden politics. Mr. Chen had originally pushed for a bill allowing national referendums partly on the grounds that the will of the people, expressed through a referendum, could be used to make changes to the constitution even without a three-quarters majority of the legislature. Chinese officials and newspapers have been very critical of Mr. Chen, accusing him of leaning too far toward a separate Taiwan. The official New China News Agency said on Thursday that an article today in a government-controlled Chinese newspaper described Mr. Chen as "a troublemaker in international society." -- i love soccer~ ╰○︿′ o‵︿） scores!! 〈 --

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