[LETTER]

‘Status quo’ no longer viable

Huang Chi-yao’s (黃啟堯) insightful piece (“Treaty of Taipei had no claim to sovereignty,” May 2, page 8) exposes the fallacy of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) position over the previous week.

Attaining observer status in the World Health Assembly as “Chinese Taipei,” and not the “Republic of China,” shows once and for all that “one China, two interpretations” is a collective delusion of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and counts for nothing in the international arena: The People’s Republic is the only China.

While “Chinese Taipei” may not offend anyone, it is deliberately ambiguous at a time when clarity is needed, such as what does the word “Chinese” refer to?

It’s not at all helpful that Taiwan could only gain observer status on the WHA merely as a goodwill gesture by Beijing. It meekly accepts in principle where the real power lies, undermining the sovereignty exercised by the Republic of China over Taiwan.

This sovereignty is only further undermined by the signing of economic and trade agreements with the People’s Republic of China — nowhere in the world are such important agreements signed between two governments where one government fundamentally denies the other’s legitimacy. Clarification on what Ma means by “normalization” would therefore be welcome.

Crucially, however, in accepting Beijing’s terms in these matters, the “status quo” — the basis for the US Taiwan Relations Act, even if supported by just 27 percent of Taiwanese, according to a recent poll — appears no longer to be an option. The implication of Huang Chi-yao’s insights would appear to necessitate Taiwanese independence from the Republic of China.

PAUL DEACON

Kuishan, Taoyuan County