Taipei, Dec. 11 (CNA) Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum in March next year is aimed at helping bolster peace in the Asia-Pacific region, President Chen Shui-bian said Thursday.
Chen made the remarks while receiving a delegation of Japanese parliamentarians at the Presidential Office.
Stressing that mainland China's deployment of 496 missiles aimed at Taiwan poses a major threat to the country and the other nations in the region -- including Japan -- Chen said the purpose of Taiwan's plan to hold a "defensive referendum" to gauge public opinion on whether Beijing should forswear the use of force against Taiwan is to secure peace for Taiwan and the entire region. "If Taiwan remains safe, the security of other countries in the region will also be safeguarded, " the president told the Japanese visitors.
Holding a referendum on March 20 along with the next presidential election is a common aspiration of the Taiwan people for peace and democracy, Chen claimed, arguing, however, that the Beijing regime has intentionally misinterpreted Taiwan's efforts in this regard as an attempt to advocate independence.
Beijing has also tried to keep strong pressure on the United States and Japan, asking them not to agree to Taiwan's referendum plan, the president said. "Holding referendums is a universally recognized practice in democratic countries and we strongly hope that such a democratic value and principle can take root in Taiwan, " he added, saying that Beijing is "not in a position to oppose" the referendum plan as it involves neither the independence-unification issue nor a violation of his "four noes plus one" policy.