In 2007, the government of then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) designated Oct. 24 Taiwan United Nations Day, to encourage all citizens to join in the movement to get Taiwan a seat at the UN. This special day serves to highlight Taiwan’s exclusion from the UN, which is contrary to the UN’s original purpose and the principle of universal membership.
Since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) took office, his administration has stopped seeking entry to the UN through the front door. Instead, on the grounds that the past practice of having allies speak out in the UN in favor of Taiwan’s membership caused friction between Taiwan and China, the Ma administration has chosen to declare a “diplomatic truce” as a unilateral expression of goodwill toward the People’s Republic of China and has given up campaigning to join the UN under the name “Taiwan.”
The government keeps saying how much it respects the Taiwanese public’s desire to join the UN, but by adopting a strategy of seeking “meaningful participation in the activities of UN special agencies,” it has moved away from the clear position that Taiwan is a sovereign independent state.
What does this policy of seeking “meaningful participation” really mean? To put it simply, it means that China is Big Daddy and Taiwan is sonny boy Jim. Ma’s government doesn’t promote any policy that China doesn’t like and seemingly goes along with any policy Beijing supports.
Last year, China set the parameters under which Taiwan could take part in WHO activities. Taiwan’s health minister, representing the Ma administration, has attended the World Health Assembly twice as an observer under the designation “Chinese Taipei.” The government is delighted with this breakthrough, which it has presented as a great achievement. Ma’s team would have us believe that this is a successful example of how its “flexible diplomacy” gives Taiwan more room on the diplomatic stage.
It may look as though the government has managed, with China’s support, to open a door for Taiwan to interact with the outside world, but it has fallen into the trap of the so-called “one China” principle. In effect, Taiwan’s space on the world scene has been made into a matter of China’s domestic policy.
This year, the Ma administration has continued to kowtow to China. It has no intention of applying for formal membership of the UN as a sovereign independent state. In contrast to the government’s passive approach, Taiwan-centric civic groups have actively taken the initiative and continue to hold activities to mark Taiwan UN Day every year. In so doing, they aim to demonstrate to everyone at home and abroad the desire of Taiwan’s 23 million people to decide their own future and the nation’s determination to join the UN under the name “Taiwan.”
It is up to Taiwanese to reverse the Ma administration’s excessively China-friendly policy and to urge the Cabinet to recognize Taiwanese people’s wish to join the UN as a member state. The fast-approaching special municipality elections can be seen as a dry run for the next presidential election, which will be held in 2012.
As such, the results will have great significance for Taiwan’s future. Making the right choice can bring about change. When they go to the polls on Nov. 27, voters must use their ballots to give Ma and his ministers a stern warning. The message that must be conveyed is that the route from Taiwan to the UN lies directly from here to New York, not via Beijing.
Chen Lung-chu is president of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.
TRANSLATED BY JULIAN CLEGG
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