Oct. 24 marked Taiwan’s third United Nations Day.
The initiation of the campaign to join the UN under the name “Taiwan” was a significant milestone on the road toward normalizing Taiwan’s national status. In 2007, then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) filed an application with the UN Secretariat for Taiwanese UN membership under the name “Taiwan,” an approach that was completely different from that used in the previous 14 years.
It was an historic step forward in that it declared to the international community that Taiwan is a peace-loving country determined to join the world body.
The move also highlighted the fact that by not including Taiwan as a member, the UN had deprived Taiwanese of basic human rights and that this was not good for Taiwan or the UN.
Since Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) became president last year, there has been a drastic change in the government’s strategy for joining the UN.
In order to ingratiate itself with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Ma administration has declared a “diplomatic truce” with Beijing, promoted a modus vivendi foreign policy and striven for “meaningful participation” in the UN’s specialized agencies instead.
This year, the government even gave up efforts to have Taiwan’s diplomatic allies make a joint proposal for Taiwanese UN membership at the UN General Assembly. Ma instead implored China to allow Taiwan to participate in specialized agencies — reflecting a status inferior to that of independent states.
Not only does the Ma government do all it can to avoid suggesting that Taiwan is a sovereign, independent state and that China has no jurisdiction over Taiwan, it is also failing to defend Taiwan’s national interests.
Ma’s attempts to undermine the nation’s sovereignty and its Taiwanese identity by placing Taiwan’s future in the hands of the Chinese are indicative of his ignorance of public opinion and their wish for UN membership.
They also highlight how the government disregards Taiwanese sovereignty and bows to its Chinese counterpart in an attempt to make Taiwan a Chinese satellite state.
In 2007, Taiwan’s proposal for UN membership aroused heated discussion among members of the world body and in the international community, leading to massive media coverage.
This year, however, the Ma administration abandoned efforts to gain UN membership and has significantly reduced exposure for Taiwan’s attempts to gain participation in the UN in the international media, thus weakening Taiwan’s voice in that arena.
We must insist on doing what is right. The Taiwanese people are not willing to be ruled by a foreign power and we are not pessimistic about the collective right of Taiwan’s 23 million people to join the UN.
Nor will we give up.
Chen Lung-chu is president of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
TRANSLATED BY TED YANG
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