Charter will avoid Taiwan's sovereignty, he says, and referendum plan may die
Bowing to pressure from Beijing and Washington, Chen Shui-bian stepped away from confrontation over constitutional reform yesterday after being sworn in for a second term as Taiwan's president.
He promised not to rule out any form of relations with the mainland, and while he vowed to pursue plans to adopt a new constitution in 2008, he said it would not cover the most contentious issues - national sovereignty and the island's status.
He also appeared willing to scrap a referendum on constitutional reform, a vote the mainland insists would be tantamount to a declaration of independence.
'I am fully aware consensus has yet to be reached on ... national sovereignty, territory and the subject of unification [or] independence,' he said after his swearing-in at a rain-soaked ceremony in front of Taiwan's Presidential Office.
'Therefore, let me explicitly propose that these particular issues be excluded from the present constitutional re-engineering project.'
