Resolution adopted by the Executive Committee of Liberal International convening in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, March 4 – 6 2004;
The Executive Committee of Liberal International:
Paying tribute to the more than two million Taiwanese who participated in the Hand-in-Hand Rally on February 28th and thereby built a great human wall of democracy;
Recognizing the strength of Taiwan’s grassroots democracy which will be evident on March 20th in both the presidential election and the referendum on the military build-up by China against Taiwan and Taiwan’s national defence effort;
Acknowledging and supporting Taiwan’s democratic development in which President Chen Shui-bian, Vice President Annette Lu and the Democratic Progressive Party play and should continue to play such a pivotal role and which combines the consolidation and deepening of representative democracy and the introduction of referenda, which is an inherent democratic right which can not be denied to the Taiwanese people;
States that the present status quo in the Taiwan Strait may only be changed by means of peaceful negotiations between Beijing and Taipei and the consent of the people of Taiwan through their democratic institutions;
Calls on the international community to recognize the results of both the presidential election and the referendum and urges the People’s Republic of China to renounce the use of force against Taiwan and remove all missiles targeted at Taiwan and resume the Cross Strait dialogue as soon as possible after the installation of the new President and Vice President on May 20th.
