Republic of China United Nations membership referendum, 2008

Two referenda on the participation of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in the United Nations were put to Republic of China voters on March 22, 2008, the same day as the presidential election.

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The first referendum question, supported by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of President Chen Shui-bian, asked whether voters agree that the government should seek United Nations membership under the name "Taiwan". In September 2007, Zogby International conducted an opinion poll on the support of this referendum, the result shows over 61% of Americans believe that the US government should support the referendum.

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: A Japanese company also conducted a poll on the same issue; the result shows over 74% people/">Japanese support Taiwan's entry into the UN, and over 81% support the referendum. However, this referendum has not become a major political issue in either the United States or Japan.

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: The People's Republic of China made relatively few comments on the issue. It argued that the referendum would "endanger peace and stability across the Strait and the Asia-Pacific region.", and was "pinning hope on the Taiwan people" and will keep promoting cross-Strait exchanges to strengthen opposition to secessionist forces. It had stated that it appreciated the US opposition to the referendum. After the referenda were defeated due to low voter turnout, the Taiwan Affairs Bureau of the State Council of the People's Republic of China commented that the results showed the lack of popular support for independence in Taiwan. The Bureau also expressed optimism for the two governments to work together to maintain cross-strait peace and aid development in future.

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Republic of China: The Republic of China (Traditional Chinese: ????; Simplified Chinese: ????; Wade-Giles: Chung?-hua? Min?-kuo?, Tongyong Pinyin: JhongHu? M?nGu?, Hanyu Pinyin: Zh?nghu? M?ngu?, Taiwanese POJ: Tiong-ho? B?n-kok) is a multiparty democratic state that today is composed of the island groups of Taiwan, th...

Taiwan: Taiwan (; Taiwanese: T?i-o?n) is an island in East Asia located off the coast of mainland China, south of Japan and north of the Philippines. "Taiwan" is commonly used to refer to the territories currently governed by the Republic of China (ROC), which include the Taiwan island group (including Lany...

United Nations: :This article is about the United Nations, for other uses of "UN" or "Un", see UN (disambiguation)...

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