Singapore, Malaysia, Romania and Venezuela have issued statements opposing the Taiwan authorities' referendum to bid for UN membership.

Singapore on Saturday reaffirmed its opposition to the Taiwan authorities' referendum on UN membership, saying that such referendums served no useful purpose and caused tensions in the cross-strait relations.

"These referendums served no useful purpose so far as Taiwan's membership in the United Nations is concerned. They were populist gestures made for electoral purposes which caused tensions in cross-strait relations," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The Malaysian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday, expressing its opposition to the Taiwan authorities' pursuit of UN membership.

"The move will affect peace and stability in the region and beyond. We therefore oppose such a provocative move," the ministry said in the statement.

Romania sees as counterproductive the actions of the Taiwan authorities which aimed to serve its secessionist goals, a Foreign Ministry press release said on Friday.

Reaffirming to strictly abide by the one China policy, Romania said that Taiwan is part of China and any attempt by the Taiwan authorities to justify its secessionist activities is doomed to failure, the press release said.

Venezuela Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro sent a message to Chinese Ambassador Zhang Tuo, expressing his country's opposition to the referendum on UN membership in the name of Taiwan and reiterated that Venezuela adheres to the one China policy.

(Xinhua News Agency, March 23, 2008)