It was no surprise that the US State Department should declare its opposition to the announcement by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) that he is pushing for a referendum on the question of whether Taiwan should make a bid for UN membership under the name of "Taiwan."
Nevertheless, if the US were able to obtain a deeper understanding of the underlying meaning of the proposed referendum bid, it would see that there are no grounds for its opposition.
First, if the US is opposed to using the name "Taiwan" for a UN membership bid, then it is overreacting because this has nothing to do with changing the nation's title.
It is worth noting that among the more than 190 UN member states, more than 80 applied for UN membership using a name other than their official national title. Thus, it is clear that using the name "Taiwan" to apply for UN membership has nothing to do with changing the country's national title.
Second, if the reason for US opposition is that it opposes Taiwanese membership in the UN, that would be totally unreasonable.
Since 1993, Taiwan has made continued efforts to join the UN, so this aspiration is not something new.
The US has never given its support for UN membership for Taiwan, and there is no need to change that stance into one of outspoken opposition.
Third, if the US' opposition stems from concern over Taiwan holding a national referendum, there is even less ground for concern from that standpoint.
Referendums are an important link in Taiwan's democratization process. In addition, the threshold for initiating and approving a referendum is very high, which means that the result of such a referendum would be a product of careful public choice.
The US should not show such a lack of confidence in Taiwan's democracy and public opinion. It is not difficult to see that Washington's opposition is a result of China's reaction to Chen's announcement and pressure on Washington.
Officials in Beijing have found that the shortest way to Taipei is through Washington.
US response to Chinese pressure on Taiwan shows that Washington has walked straight into an elaborate Chinese trap.
Clearly, the only result of Washington helping Beijing put pressure on Taiwan will be a deterioration of Taiwan-US relations that leaves Beijing the sole victor.
Several opinion polls conducted by Taiwan Thinktank have showed that Taiwanese have less positive feelings for the US than they have for Japan, and that this is a growing trend possibly connected to Washington's negative attitude toward Taiwan on a series of issues such as referendums and the writing of a new constitution.
Washington must wake up to the reality that the US is losing the support and friendship of Taiwanese.
In the end will have face an even more cruel question: Who lost Taiwan?
Lo Chih-cheng is the director of the department of political science at Soochow University.
Translated by Lin Ya-ti
Having lived through former British prime minister Boris Johnson’s tumultuous and scandal-ridden administration, the last place I had expected to come face-to-face with “Mr Brexit” was in a hotel ballroom in Taipei. Should I have been so surprised? Over the past few years, Taiwan has unfortunately become the destination of choice for washed-up Western politicians to turn up long after their political careers have ended, making grandiose speeches in exchange for extraordinarily large paychecks far exceeding the annual salary of all but the wealthiest of Taiwan’s business tycoons. Taiwan’s pursuit of bygone politicians with little to no influence in their home
In 2025, it is easy to believe that Taiwan has always played a central role in various assessments of global national interests. But that is a mistaken belief. Taiwan’s position in the world and the international support it presently enjoys are relatively new and remain highly vulnerable to challenges from China. In the early 2000s, the George W. Bush Administration had plans to elevate bilateral relations and to boost Taiwan’s defense. It designated Taiwan as a non-NATO ally, and in 2001 made available to Taiwan a significant package of arms to enhance the island’s defenses including the submarines it long sought.
US lobbyist Christian Whiton has published an update to his article, “How Taiwan Lost Trump,” discussed on the editorial page on Sunday. His new article, titled “What Taiwan Should Do” refers to the three articles published in the Taipei Times, saying that none had offered a solution to the problems he identified. That is fair. The articles pushed back on points Whiton made that were felt partisan, misdirected or uninformed; in this response, he offers solutions of his own. While many are on point and he would find no disagreement here, the nuances of the political and historical complexities in
Taiwan faces an image challenge even among its allies, as it must constantly counter falsehoods and misrepresentations spread by its more powerful neighbor, the People’s Republic of China (PRC). While Taiwan refrains from disparaging its troublesome neighbor to other countries, the PRC is working not only to forge a narrative about itself, its intentions and value to the international community, but is also spreading lies about Taiwan. Governments, parliamentary groups and civil societies worldwide are caught in this narrative tug-of-war, each responding in their own way. National governments have the power to push back against what they know to be
RSS