The mainland, however, sees this as another move by the government of Mr Chen to eventually declare the island an independent country, since the president has, in the past, strongly supported the holding of a referendum to determine whether Taiwan should be reunited with the mainland or be permanently separated.

On March 26, officials in Beijing issued a strong warning to Taiwan. 'The conspiracy to separate Taiwan from China in the way of a referendum, which is illegal and invalid, will go nowhere,' said Zhang Mingqing, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the mainland's cabinet.

The proposed referendum law is strongly supported by the DPP's ally, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, which is backed by former president Lee Teng-hui. Mr Lee openly favours an independent republic of Taiwan, separate from the mainland. A referendum law that would allow a declaration of Taiwan independence has been opposed by the two main opposition parties, the Kuomintang and the People First Party, both of which believe that the passage of such legislation would provoke the mainland into taking action against Taiwan.

To allay such fears, some lawmakers have proposed limiting the scope of the referendum law so that it cannot be applied to issues such as the nation's status, symbols and constitution.

While the ruling party is the largest in the legislature, it does not command a majority and so it will not be easy for the proposed law to be adopted, given the strong opposition voiced by the mainland and other parties. Mainland officials no doubt remember the promises made by Mr Chen in his inaugural speech, when he pledged what became known as the 'four nos'.

'I will not declare independence,' Mr Chen asserted on May 20, 2000, when he was sworn in as the first non-KMT president in Taiwan's history. 'I will not change the national title. I will not push for the inclusion of the so-called 'state-to-state' description in the constitution, and I will not promote a referendum to change the status quo in regards to the question of independence or unification.'

These declarations seemed definitive and yet, last August, Mr Chen showed what were probably his true colours in a speech delivered via video link to the pro-independence World Federation of Taiwanese Associations meeting in Tokyo.

He sounded a strongly pro-independence note, declaring that Taiwan must walk down its own road and saying that 'only the great 23 million people of Taiwan have the right to decide Taiwan's future, destiny and status quo'.

He went on: 'How do we make a decision when necessary? Referendum - it is the ideal and [the] goal we have been pursuing over a long period of time and the common idea of everyone. Referendum is a basic human right and one which should not be deprived or restricted. I sincerely call on and encourage all of you to seriously ponder the importance and urgency of referendum legislation.'

In the same speech, Mr Chen declared that Taiwan and the mainland were separate countries on opposite sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Given that Mr Chen has made clear his desire for Taiwan to declare independence, and to pass a referendum law first to pave the way for the holding of a vote on independence, it is little wonder that the mainland is suspicious of his motives now that he is openly backing the passage of a law that will allow the holding of referendums.

Supporters of the proposal point out that Article 17 of the constitution says that the people shall have the right of election, recall, initiative and referendum.

Another article says that the exercise of the rights of initiative and referendum shall be prescribed by law. However, no law has ever been passed to provide for this.

And clearly, if the mainland has its way, no such law will ever be passed.