What’s in a name?
There is an old saying: “Men do not seek the truth. It is the truth that pursues men.” How true this is.
The most recent incident of this was when Japanese envoy Masaki Saito made a comment at a meeting of the Republic of China (ROC) International Relations Association that Taiwan’s status was still unsolved. (“Japanese representative scolded over remark on Taiwan’s ‘unresolved’ status,” May 3, page 1).
All Saito did was simply tell the truth according to international law.
Yet Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members, who demanded an apology or that the envoy be recalled, attacked Saito for telling the truth. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) also slammed Japan’s envoy for this honest remark.
Whether this comment was Saito’s personal opinion or his government’s official position over Taiwan’s status, there is only one truth: Taiwan’s status is still unresolved. Period.
I believe it is time for society to punish those who continue to dispense falsehood to the public, those who prefer simple lies to complicated truth.
One of the biggest charades perpetrated by the government of Taiwan has been to mislead its citizens into believing that their country’s name is still the ROC, even though this designation is no longer accepted by the UN, which recognizes the PRC based on its “one China” policy.
Yet the Taiwanese government has refused to accept reality by changing its official name from the ROC to the Republic of Taiwan or just Taiwan, which is already well known around the world as a sovereign state.
The government uses “Taiwan” as a shield for its country name in order to fend off questions of nationality from the international media, which consider the ROC to no longer exist.
Although the Taiwanese government can continue to fool its own people into thinking the country’s name is still the ROC, it cannot trick the international media.
The government also uses a variety of names to gain entry to the international arena. The latest charade was Taiwan’s invitation to the WHO’s World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer under the name “Chinese Taipei,” which sounds like an imaginary country from nowhere.
No wonder Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan (葉金川), who represented the ROC at the WHA meeting in Geneva, looked confused and bewildered in front of TV cameras.
He really didn’t know which country he was representing, though he kept referring to Taiwan this or Taiwan that.
He only once referred to the country as “ROC, Taiwan,” which in my opinion is not accurate because the ROC is long dead, while Taiwan is alive and well.
A tearful Yeh said later at a press conference: “I really don’t know what these people [protesting students] want.” (“Yeh tearful, defensive after student heckling at WHA,” May 19, page 1) In fact the answer is very simple: They want the truth.
The students want to know what country Yeh is representing: the ROC, Taiwan or Chinese Taipei — a puppet country under the control of the PRC. Or perhaps Chinese Taipei refers to the people who live in Taipei, most of them diehard KMT supporters who wish to be unified with the PRC.
Since I assume Yeh doesn’t want to know the truth, I think he is making a fool of himself, becoming a laughingstock in an international community that strives to know the truth. We all know that a nation’s identity is the most basic factor in the international arena.
I hope the government will change the country’s name officially and legally to Taiwan, and not just use or misuse it as expedient.
KRIS LIAO
San Francisco
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