Taiwan opposition wants referendum on trade pact with China

Taipei - Taiwan's main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) announced Sunday it plans to force a referendum over a government decision to agree a quasi-free trade pact with China. Pro-China Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has called for the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) with China no later than early 2010. The proposed pact would be similar to a free-trade agreement, abolishing many tariffs, but with some protection for farmers and core industries in Taiwan. 'We are seeking 100,000 seed supporters to endorse a proposal for the referendum, and each seed supporter is asked to further find 10 supporters to have the proposal officially raised and held in line with the referendum bill,' DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen said in a news conference. Under the plan, the DPP hopes to collect the signatures of at least 100,000 supporters by the end of July so that a motion can be established and submitted to the Central Election Commission for endorsement. Taiwanese law requires at least 80,000 eligible voters to propose a motion and 800,000 voters to support the motion before a referendum can be held. Only with the support of over 8 million eligible voters will the referendum considered passed. Ma has said the pact is necessary to avoid Taiwan from being marginalized when China and Association of East Asian Nations members are expected to form a trade bloc, possilby as early as next year. But the pro-independence DPP believes ECFA is a veiled move by Ma to sell the island to China following his adoption of a policy to engage Beijing and sign nine economic, tourist and crime fighting cooperation agreements with Beijing since he took office in May last year. Tsai claimed that since Ma became president he has ignored the concerns of the pro-independence camp and has failed to uphold Taiwan's sovereignty. Nor has he tried to seek consensus from the pro-independence camp before pushing through the ECFA with China, she told reporters. 'For this, we must hold a referendum to check and balance him,' she said. She said the referendum will also reduce a head-on political confrontation between the Ma government and the pro-independence camp. Beijing does not recognise Taiwan as a state and has rejected its attempts to join international organisations. Taiwan and China split at the end of a civil war in 1949, but Beijing still considers the island a part of the mainland, and has repeatedly threatened to attack Taiwan should it declare independence.