(China Daily/Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-02 07:45

TAIPEI: Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian said yesterday that a referendum on the island's efforts to join the United Nations will be held as planned despite mounting international criticism.

"The referendum is a grassroots initiative" that "cannot be opposed or canceled by anyone, not even the president," he said in his annual New Year's Day address.

The referendum, scheduled to be held alongside Taiwan's "presidential" election in March, will ask voters if they support the island's bid to join the UN under the name Taiwan.

Chen's push for the referendum is widely believed to be an attempt to move the island toward de jure independence.

Beijing says both Taiwan and the mainland belong to the same, single China.

Washington has repeatedly criticized the planned vote out of fears that it could stoke tension across the Taiwan Straits.

Last month, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said: "It unnecessarily raises tensions in the Taiwan Strait, and promises no real benefits for the people of Taiwan on the international stage."

China Daily-Agencies