The referendum will ask whether voters 'agree that the government should seek to join the UN in the name of Taiwan to express Taiwanese people's will and enhance Taiwan's international status and participation,' the Central Election Commission said in a notice on its website.

The commission also gave the green light to a separate referendum proposed by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) on whether Taiwan should seek to 'return to the UN with a pragmatic and flexible approach,' also alongside the presidential vote.

In the KMT's version, Taiwan should attempt to join the UN and other international organisations either under its official title 'the Republic of China' or 'Taiwan,' or any other suitable name.

The independence-leaning ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has been pushing for the controversial referendum despite strong oppositions by Beijing and the island's key ally Washington.

'From the perspective of the United States, the conduct of such a referendum is a mistake,' US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said last month.

'We think it is a provocative policy on the part of the Taiwanese authorities and we think that it certainly would have been preferable had not such a referendum been scheduled.'

The DPP has long said it intended to have a UN referendum at the same time as the March vote, but it had not been rubber-stamped.

The DPP suffered a crushing defeat in last month's legislative elections, with the KMT winning 81 seats of 113 seats against the DPP's 27, while KMT allies also took the remaining five.

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has vigorously defended the proposed referendum, saying 'there is absolutely no provocative policy but only a policy that respects public opinions.' -- AFP