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A nation-wide consultative referendum (全國性公民投票)
was held in the Republic of China (Taiwan) on March 20, 2004 to coincide with the
2004
presidential election. Voters were asked two questions
regarding relations with the People's Republic of China. The
initiation of this referendum by President Chen Shui-bian
came under intense criticism from the PRC because it was seen as an
exercise for an eventual vote on Taiwan independence. The Pan-Blue
Coalition urged a boycott, citing that the referendum was
illegal and unnecessary. Voters agreed by wide margins two
questions put by the government, but the less than 50% turnout
invalidated the result.
Questions
and results
The questions are officially numbered 1 and 2:
Question
1
|
“ |
1. The People of Taiwan
demand that the Taiwan Strait issue be resolved through peaceful
means. Should Communist China refuse to withdraw the missiles it
has targeted at Taiwan and to openly renounce the use of force
against us, would you agree that the Government should acquire more
advanced anti-missile weapons to strengthen Taiwan's self-defense
capabilities?
(「台灣人民堅持台海問題應該和平解決。如果中共不撤除瞄準台灣的飛彈、不放棄對台灣使用武力，您是否贊成政府增加購置反飛彈裝備，以強化台灣自我防衛能力？」) |
” |
| Type of vote |
Valid votes |
% of valid votes |
| Yes |
6,511,216 |
91.80% |
| No |
581,413 |
8.20% |
| Turnout |
| Registered Voters |
16,507,179 |
|
| Votes Cast |
7,452,340 |
45.15% of registered voters |
| Valid Votes |
7,092,629 |
95.17% of votes cast |
| Invalid Votes |
359,711 |
4.83% of votes cast |
Question
2
|
“ |
2. Would you agree that
our Government should engage in negotiation with Communist China on
the establishment of a "peace and stability" framework for
cross-strait interactions in order to build consensus and for the
welfare of the peoples on both sides?
(「您是否同意政府與中共展開協商，推動建立兩岸和平穩定的互動架構，以謀求兩岸的共識與人民的福祉？」) |
” |
| Type of vote |
Valid votes |
% of valid votes |
| Yes |
6,319,663 |
92.05% |
| No |
545,911 |
7.95% |
| Turnout |
| Registered Voters |
16,507,179 |
|
| Votes Cast |
7,444,148 |
45.10% of registered voters |
| Valid Votes |
6,865,574 |
92.23% of votes cast |
| Invalid Votes |
578,574 |
7.77% of votes cast |
A minimum of 50% voter turnout was required to validate the
results. This was not achieved, and the results, overwhelming in
favor of both measures, were invalidated.
Legislative
process for a law on referendum
The vetting of the referendum bill appeared to alarm Beijing
which issued more sharp threats of a strong reaction if a
referendum bill passed which would allow a vote on sovereignty
issues such as the territory and flag of the ROC. The
final bill that was passed by the Legislative Yuan on November 27, 2003
did not contain restrictions on the content of any referendums, but
did include very high hurdles for referendums on constitutional
issues. These hurdles were largely put in place by the Pan-Blue
Coalition majority in the legislature. The bill also contained
a provision for a defensive referendum to be called if the
sovereignty of the ROC was under threat. In response to the
referendum passage, Beijing issued vague statements of unease.
Proposal for a
referendum and reactions
On November 29, 2004, President Chen Shui-bian
announced that given that the PRC had missiles aimed at Taiwan, he had the power
under the defensive referendum clause to order a referendum on sovereignty, although
he did not do so under pressure by USA. This statement was very
strongly criticized both by Beijing and by the Pan-Blue Coalition.
But instead, he proposed a referendum to ask the PRC to remove the
hundreds of missiles it has aimed at Taiwan.
In a televised address made on January 16, 2004, President Chen
reiterated his "Four Noes and One Without"
pledge, justified the "peace referendum," and announced its
questions.
Official
debates
A series of 10 debates were held over 5 days (Wednesdays and
Sundays) on the referendum (first pair on first question; second on
second; pro-government listed before con-) [1]
- February 29 - Cabinet spokesman Lin Chia-lung v. independent Legislator
May Chin (Kao Chin
Su-mei); Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh v. Commentator Li Ao
- March 3 - Office of the President's Deputy Secretary-General Joseph Wu v. poet Chan
Chao-li, Minister without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong v. former DPP
Chairman Hsu
Hsin-liang
- March 7 - TSU Legislator Lo Chih-ming v. former Control Yuan
member Yeh Yao-peng; DPP Legislator Chiu Tai-san v. sociologist Timothy Ting
- March 10 - DPP Legislator You Ching v. Green Party Taiwan acting convener
Kao Cheng-yan;
DPP Legislator Cho Jung-tai v. mainland exile Ruan Ming
- March 14 - DPP Legislator Julian Kuo v. anti-March 20
referendum alliance leader Jaw Shaw-kong; Mainland Affairs Council
Chairwoman Tsai
Ing-wen v. independent Legislator Sisy Chen
One interesting characteristic of the debates is that the con
positions were not argued by any active political figures in the Pan-Blue
Coalition, and the CEC at first found it difficult to find
people to take the con position. The Pan-Blue Coalition has made it clear
that it favored the topics to be decided in the referendum, but
believed that the referendum process itself was illegal and a
prelude to more controversial topics. As a consequence, Pan-Blue
asked its supporters not to vote at all in the referendum, with the
intention of having the number of valid votes fall below the 50%
voter threshold necessary to have a valid referendum.
Election
procedure
Because of Pan-Blue's strategy of having people cast
no ballot in the referendum, one major controversy was the format
of the election, specifically as whether the referendum questions
would be on the same or different ballots as the Presidency. After
much debate the CEC decided that there would be a U shaped line in
which people would first cast a ballot for President and then cast
a separate ballot for each of the two questions. Voters who choose
not to cast a referendum ballot could exit the line at the base of
the U. Near the end of the campaign, the CEC issued a number of
conflicting and constantly changing directives as to what would
constitute a valid ballot.
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