Taiwan nuclear referendum on or before presidential vote?
　　（The Star Online, Friday, June 27, 2003）

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's president said Friday that he wants to hold an
islandwide referendum on or before next year's presidential election to decide
whether a partially built nuclear plant should be finished.

The vote would be Taiwan's first islandwide referendum, and the issue has been
the subject of intense debate in recent weeks.

President Chen Shui-bian said that he would like to hold the vote on or before
the March 20 presidential election.

"The time is ripe to let the people make the final decision,'' Chen said in a
closely watched, televised speech to an anti-nuclear convention.

Taiwan's biggest rival, China, has already warned the island that the vote could
raise tensions. The two sides split amid civil war in 1949, and Beijing wants
the island to unify.

Chinese leaders fear that the nuclear referendum might pave the way for a vote
on whether Taiwan should seek a permanent split with China.

Beijing has warned that such a move could spark a war.

The president's core supporters in his anti-nuclear Democratic Progressive Party
have been pressuring him to hold the referendum to decide the fate of the
island's fourth nuclear plant.

The former ruling Nationalist Party approved the plant before it lost the
presidency in 2000, and the DPP has argued that the party ignored the public's
will when it made the decision.

The nuclear referendum would not be legally binding because Taiwan's
constitution does not allow referendums.

The DPP has tried to amend the constitution, but opposition parties have opposed
the efforts.

But in recent weeks, opposition parties - including the Nationalists and People
First Party - have been warming up to the idea of a referendum.

Several recent polls have reported that the public believes holding referendums
is important to the development of Taiwan's young democracy. - AP