TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 17 (UPI) -- Taiwan's president, reacting to France's opposition to his country's democratic referendum, Wednesday called France "a problematic country."
Chen Shui-bian said France opposes the referendum because it wants to sell arms to China's expanding military, the Taipei Times reported.
"France is a problematic country," Chen told supporters at a rally in Taipei.
"In order to sell arms to China, France took the lead among countries of the EU to lift the EU's arms embargo on China," he said.
Chen said French President Jacques Chirac "even spoke out against Taiwan's referendum and was willing to be used by China."
Referring to the recent joint naval exercise between China and France, Chen said it was done to sway the presidential election.
First lady Wu Shu-chen said the referendum is the most important issue in the presidential election.
"The referendum gives the people of Taiwan the power to stand up to China's military threat," Wu said.
