Taiwan residents veto UN membership referendum

TAIPEI—Taiwan residents on Saturday vetoed “UN membership referendum” pursued by Chen Shui-bian authorities, according to results of the votes count on Saturday.
Only 35.8 percent in Taiwan cast their ballots on Saturday for the “UN membership referendum” under the name “Taiwan”, proposed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The result showed clearly the Taiwan residents’ dissatisfaction with Chen, said Wang Hsiao-Po, a professor with Taiwan University.
Voting on the proposed “referendum” was held simultaneously with the leadership poll. Su Chia-hung, a political expert from Kaohsiung, said the failure of the “referendum” proved that the people’s will should never be overlooked.
It was the common aspiration of the compatriots from across the Taiwan Straits to maintain peace and stability, he said.
Chen’s “UN membership referendum” has met opposition and condemnation from both within the Taiwan island and the international community ever since it was proposed.
More than 100 countries and regions including the United States, the European Union and Russia previously had all voiced their opposition to the proposal and reiterated their adherence to the One China policy.
Ma Ying-jeou, the candidate representing Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT), won the island’s leadership election on Saturday, according to Taiwan media reports.
Ma, former KMT party chairman, and Vincent Siew, got 7.6587 million ballots, or 58.45 percent of the votes, whereas Frank Hsieh of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and his running mate Su Tseng-chang got 5.4452 million ballots, or 41.55 percent of the votes.
Taiwan residents began voting in the leadership election at 8 a.m., voting ended at 4 p.m.. Results are expected at 9.30 p.m. About 17.3 million people voted at 14,401 polling stations, said the Taiwan authority.
Taiwan residents also voted on Saturday in two “referendums” on launching a bid to join the United Nations, one put forward by the DPP and one by the KMT. Both were rejected by Taiwan residents.
In January, the KMT won 81 of the 113 seats in Taiwan’s “legislature” elections, scoring a landslide victory over the DPP, which got 27 seats.—Xinhua