News, November 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
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Taiwan President says sovereignty referendum possible next March
Khaleej Times, (AP, AFP)
29 November 2003
TAIPEI, Taiwan – In a move likely to infuriate rival China, Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian said on Saturday that a new law allows him to call a referendum vote on Taiwan’s “sovereignty” on March 20 if he chooses to.
Taiwan and China split after a civil war in 1949. Communist Beijing still claims sovereignty over the self-governing, democratic island, threatening war if Taiwan moves toward formal independence.
Chen Shui-bian said a new referendum law passed on Thursday lets him to call for a public vote on sovereignty on March 20, the day of the next presidential elections, if he wants to.
“Next year, on March 20, we can still organize a referendum, to protect our country’s sovereignty,” Chen told supporters.
“In order to prevent Taiwan’s national security and Taiwan’s national sovereignty from being threatened by any outside force, and from undergoing any change, I have the duty, I have the responsibility to be able to call for a referendum if the government approves,” Chen said.
China severs diplomatic ties with Kiribati
China said it would sever diplomatic ties with the pacific island of Kiribati, where it had a space tracking station, after the island formally recognised Taiwan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported in Beijing on Saturday
The Micronesian republic of 96,000 inhabitants has had ties with the People’s Republic of China since 1980, but switched diplomatic recognition to rival Taiwan on November 7.
Beijing has no diplomatic relations with the 27 countries which recognise the government of Taiwan.
China regards Taiwan, which split with China after the Communists defeated the Kuomintang in 1949, as a renegade province to be reunified with the mainland by force if necessary.
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| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
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| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python (Alquds, 1/25/03. |
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