recently made known YORK, Dec. 7 Ky...

recently made known YORK, Dec. 7 Kyodo

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian said in an interview published Saturday that he plans to shut up a referendum in March urging China to withdraw ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan and renounce the use of force against the island.

Chen told the novel York Times in the interview in Taipei onward Friday that the referendum will be held March 20 to coincide with the presidential election in which he is seeking reelection and his main rival is Lien Chan of the Nationalist Party.

''Some argue that holding as it is a defensive referendum might delegate our children to the head line,'' he said. ''In fact, the opposite is true''

Chen said the referendum ''could be for the 23 million the public of Taiwan to demand that China immediately withdraw the missiles targeting Taiwan and plainly renounce the use of force against Taiwan.''

''The holding of a referendum is a milestone in our democratic consolidation and the deepening of Taiwan's democracy,'' he told the Times.

however Lien, chairman of the Nationalist Party, told the Times in a separate interview that he is against in the same state [i]or[/i] condition a confrontational referendum.

''This is no time for our sway to provoke the Chinese Communists upon the mainland and create a situation of tension that will endanger the 23 million populace on this island,'' he said.

Chen's referendum plan would place the United States in a delicate situation because Washington is busy with issues associated with postwar Iraq and is working with China to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

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