TAIPEI (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese will take to the streets on Saturday to boost the island's latest bid for United Nations membership ahead of next week's annual General Assembly.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) hopes half-a-million people will join a rally in the southern city of Kaohsiung to promote a referendum on applying to join the UN under the name "Taiwan."
President Chen Shui-bian and DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh are expected to use a videolink to address overseas Taiwanese groups gathering in front of the UN headquarters in New York, the party said.
"We urge the public to participate in the event to support the UN membership referendum, to voice their wishes to the world and let the world see Taiwan," DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun said.
The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party estimates 100,000 people will attend a separate rally in the central city of Taichung.
The KMT is also calling for a return to the UN and is proposing its own referendum on whether should the island should push to join as the "Republic of China," its official title, or "Taiwan."
Some 15 of Taiwan's 24 allies have proposed the island's membership application to the General Assembly, which will decide whether to discuss it when the annual session opens on September 18.
The independence-leaning Chen has repeatedly vowed to press ahead with the planned vote despite warnings from Beijing and Washington, which says the move is move provocative and could heighten tensions in the region.
In a speech this week, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas J. Christensen said Washington "must strongly oppose" the vote, fearing downsides for both Taiwan and the US which is treaty-bound to protect the island.
"The frustrating truth is that needlessly provocative actions by Taipei strengthen Beijing's hand in limiting Taiwan's space and scare away potential friends who might help Taiwan," Christensen told the US-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference in Annapolis.
Chen on Thursday defended the referendum, saying it would not alter the cross-strait status quo or imply a change in the island's official name.
Names and titles are highly sensitive in the row between Taiwan and China, which split after the end of a civil war in 1949.
The island, under its official name the Republic of China, lost its UN seat to China in 1971.
Its efforts to rejoin the world body using its official name have been repeatedly blocked by Beijing, which regards Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification.
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