With these misgivings in mind, President Chen gave an interview to the British Financial Times in mid-December in which he further explained that the referendum would not change the status of Taiwan, but on the contrary was a necessary measure to safeguard the continued development of Taiwan and its independent sovereignty.
針對這些疑慮，十二月中旬，在英國金融時報專訪中，陳總統更進一步解釋，「防衛性公投」非但不會改變台灣現狀，相反的，反倒是捍衛台灣永續發展、主權獨立現狀的必要手段。