Taiwan Steps Back From Confronting China

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Friday, Nov. 28 ¡ª 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 Strait 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 legislature than Mr. Chen's party.

Even a narrowly written bill could still irk Beijing's leaders, by
establishing a precedent for holding any referendums at all on what Beijing
regards as Chinese soil.

As specifically demanded by Beijing on Wednesday, 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.

The official New China News Agency said on its Internet site on Friday
morning that a prominent Chinese expert on Taiwan had interpreted the
legislation as eliminating "the imminent danger of Taiwan independence."

But the expert, Liu Guoshen, director of the Taiwan Research Institute at
Xiamen University, was also described as warning that the law could yet
foster future problems in relations across the Taiwan Straits, by creating a
legal basis for future moves toward independence.

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 Mr. Chen might veto the
bill if it survives.

A government spokesman said the executive branch would not comment on the
legislation immediately.

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
is faced with a clear foreign threat that could erode Taiwan's territorial
integrity. Even this provision did not explicitly allow 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 Nationalist Party spokesman, said 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.

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 a broad bill was passed 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 such a step as unnecessary and possibly
dangerous given Mr. Chen's separatist leanings. They changed their position
earlier this month, favoring a limited referendum bill.

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-Beijing sentiment. Polls this month have
suggested that 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.


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