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Taiwan's UN entry needs legal weaponry

Though Taiwan's participation in international organizations has been limited, it has been able to create political and economic stability.

But as international organizations become more integrated and globalized, many issues can no longer be solved by one country alone.

Hence, it's very important for Taiwan to become a member of the UN.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cites the "one China" policy laid down in Resolution 2758 as a reason for rejecting Taiwan's application to join the world body.

But it is clear that the UN is making two mistakes in relation to this matter.

The first is that the UN does not seem to understand that Taiwan is no longer contesting the right to represent the state of China.

In its latest application, Taiwan has applied to be a new member, not to return to the UN.

We therefore must let the whole world -- including the UN -- know that Resolution 2758 has nothing to do with Taiwan.

In 1971, when the General Assembly passed Resolution 2758, both sides of the Taiwan Strait insisted that there was only one China.

They were in effect contesting the right to represent the Chinese state.

Nowadays, a democratized Taiwan has realized the ideal that sovereignty lies with the people and has positioned itself anew.

It no longer wants to represent China, and emphasizes that the 23 million people of Taiwan have a right to be represented in the UN.

The second mistake is that the UN connects Taiwan to China.

It believes that the "one China" policy implies that "Taiwan is a part of China," and uses the "one China" policy to deny Taiwan's application, because if Taiwan is part of China, that means it's not a country.

Although the international community for the most part formally accepts the "one China" principle, no country denies -- indeed, no country can deny -- that there is a territory called Taiwan.

According to international law, the people of any territory have the right to establish a country.

Therefore Taiwan can become its own country, independent of China.

The US Declaration of Independence points out in several places that the development of human civilization shows the international community must respect and protect the right of people to establish their own independent country.

The international community can therefore by no means deny Taiwan the right to establish a sovereign country, or force Taiwanese to become a part of China.

However, if Taiwan is not a part of China, that still does not necessarily mean that it is a country.

If Taiwan is not a country, of course legally it cannot become a member of the UN, so if Taiwan wants to become a member of the UN it has to be a country.

If Taiwan wants to become a member of the UN, it first must get a firm footing in international law.

If it can ensure that China and other countries have no legal reason to oppose its membership and leave them only with the option of political pressure, this would have a damaging impact on the momentum of the opposition against Taiwan entering the UN.

Only then would there be hope for Taiwan to become a member of the world body.

Liao Fu-te is secretary-general of the Taiwanese Society of International Law.

Translated by Anna Stiggelbout
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