We should congratulate the president of Costa Rica that he can tell the difference between China and Taiwan, and distinguish, as our own foreign minister in Taiwan cannot, that Taiwan is not China and does not control the huge territory that is commonly known as China.
Isn’t it about time that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dropped the lame devices of the Cold War and the Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) era and faced reality? The Republic of China (ROC) lost the Chinese civil war. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the government of China, whether we like it or not. All those allies left over from the KMT’s World Anti-Communist League have not “betrayed” Taiwan by recognizing the PRC; they are doing Taiwan a good turn by refusing to imbibe the ROC illusion.
Let us hope that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will turn its dollar diplomacy to seeking recognition for Taiwan as Taiwan, rather than squandering it on the defunct illusion of the ROC that actually gives Taiwan a bad name in Central America and the Pacific. Does the ruling administration of the Democratic Progressive Party, which claims to represent “Taiwanese values,” have any influence in the policies of the ministry at all? Or does it bow to the pan-blue camp and the “one China” policy of the ministry?
Linda Gail Arrigo
Green Party Taiwan
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