I'm not really a fan of Chen Shui-bian, but the fact that his referendum is to ask voters these two questions may produce a good result in my opinion:

whether Taiwan should purchase more advanced anti-missile weapons if China refuses to withdraw missiles aimed at the island; and whether Taiwan should negotiate with China to establish a "peaceful and stable framework for cross-strait interactions."

Well, a good result if the people of Taiwan vote yea for both, because the Chi-coms will be in the position of rejecting democracy on the first but accepting it on the second. On the other hand, if Taiwanese voters vote for the first and against the second, the Chi-coms will be angry and possibly over-react.

Anyway, Taiwan looks to be in a pretty tight spot. If they don't ultimately yield to the idea of re-unification and the mainland has not meanwhile adopted a more open political system, they're at risk of being attacked, and I don't believe the US, under any administration, will go very far to stand up to the Chi-coms (and given the price, I don't think we ought to). In the improbable event that Taiwan does yield and opts for re-unification, I suspect they'll face the same kind of interference as Hong Kong has. So the only solution is to cross our fingers and wait for the Chi-coms to come to their senses. Good luck on that.

Update

Sure enough: China Sees Independence Move in Taiwan Referendum