Taiwan or Republic of China?
On Monday, National Palace Museum director Fung Ming-chu (馮明珠) cut the ribbon at the Tokyo National Museum opening ceremony for the exhibition Treasured Masterpieces from the National Palace Museum, Taiwan. The museum director bowed to apologize over the controversy created by the name used on some of the posters promoting the event.
Tokyo National Museum director Masami Zeniya recognized the mistake of the missing word “National” and apologized. Fung accepted the apology and got the exhibition launched smoothly, so the Japanese finally can see the Jadeite Cabbage, a rare treasure, from Taipei.
Both Japan and Taiwan welcomed the happy ending. However, in Taiwan there were voices condemning the slow response to the affair. The posters had already been circulating for weeks, so why were they rejected at the last minute?
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan said they had informed Taipei early on about the posters, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said they were not directly involved and only helped to mediate matters.
It seemed there was poor communication between the National Palace Museum and MOFA. That is why no one took action until Friday last week, when the Presidential Office got involved.
Of course, there are voices supporting President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) resolve on this issue, standing against Tokyo for the dignity and sovereignty of the nation. However, for which nation: Is it Taiwan or the Republic of China (ROC)?
The Jadeite Cabbage is originally from China and Ma’s presidential title is under the Republic of China.
Obviously, Ma is defending the dignity of the nation of the ROC, not Taiwan, because Tokyo and the international community know that Taiwan is not yet a recognized nation with full sovereignty.
There is no nation “Taiwan” which is recognized by the international community and the ROC is only an exiled government.
As a matter of fact, we do not know what the major difference is in changing the name from “Taipei Palace Museum” to “National Palace Museum.” Neither one qualifies as an independent nation. So the original exhibition poster title without the word “National” would actually be more appropriate.
Early in the month, while the Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Fan Liqing (范麗青) said that Taiwan’s future “must be decided by all Chinese people, including [our] Taiwanese compatriots,” it was rejected by Taiwanese, who countered that only the 23 million Taiwanese can determine the nation’s future. However, we have not heard a statement from Ma’s office yet.
Now, TAO Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) is in Taipei. We hope Ma tells Zhang clearly that he will defend national dignity and sovereignty. And all Taiwanese and the world are watching which nation Ma claims: Taiwan or the ROC?
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
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