The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) National Congress that opens on Sunday will be a key factor in shaping the political environment of Taiwan, not only in terms of next year's legislative and presidential elections, but also the future of the DPP. The focus of the meeting will be on whether to add a clause to the "normal country resolution" stipulating that the nation's title shall be changed to "Taiwan."
The "Republic of China" (ROC) now exists in name only. Quickly changing the national title to "Taiwan" is the hope of most DPP members. But when the DPP's Central Standing Committee discussed the resolution, the words "correcting the nation's official title to Taiwan" in the draft were replaced by the vaguer "writing a new constitution and the correction of the national title as soon as possible."
This kind of substitution gives people the feeling that it was done in a perfunctory manner. What does "as soon as possible" mean? When will that be? This sounds like a Chinese cookbook that talks about adding "some salt" or a "suitable amount of sugar." The meaning is lost.
In Western cookbooks, amounts are precisely written in teaspoons or grams. The vagueness and over generalization in the resolution leaves one feeling they are just empty phrases.
Another crucial factor is the deletion of the words "correcting the nation's official title to Taiwan" in the draft. This strips the resolution of its soul. The 300,000 supporters who took to the streets in Kaohsiung and the 4,000 people who gathered at a rally in New York to push for the UN referendum under the name "Taiwan" show that only the name "Taiwan" arouses people's passion.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
If the DPP's presidential candidate moves closer to the political middle ground, however, he will be abandoning the ideals behind writing a new constitution and correcting the national title, which would take Taiwan further along the path toward normal statehood.
The name "Taiwan" is the DPP's trump card. Dropping this card and following Ma toward the center would be a mistake in principle as well as in strategy.
Playing the "Taiwan" card can not only consolidate the pan-green camp, but also build support for the DPP.
Statistics from the Government Information Office show there have been more than 1,600 reports published by the international media reflecting the Taiwanese government's active UN bid this year. This figure is four to eight times more than in past years.
Former US senator Bob Dole, who was also the US Republican Party's 1996 presidential candidate, published an article in the Wall Street Journal supporting Taiwan's UN bid. Dole wrote that "... the country is applying under its own name [`Taiwan'] rather than its official appellation [`ROC'], which is certainly worthy of public support." He also wrote that "[Taiwan] meets all of the requirements of statehood under law."
An opinion poll showed that about 80 percent of Americans know that Taiwan is a country, but that only one percent of Americans know that Taiwan is not a UN member.
The opinion poll published on Sunday by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) explained the situation: 70 percent of Americans say that if Taiwan passes its referendum on a UN bid under the name "Taiwan," the US should not oppose the wishes of the Taiwanese.
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