What is in a name?
Traveling expands one’s knowledge and helps you realize who you are. Staying home for thousands of days is always comfortable, while traveling, even a twinkling moment, causes you trouble.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) wrapped up her nine-day trip and returned to the Presidential Office on Saturday last week at 4:54pm and immediately chaired a National Security Council meeting from 5:30pm to 7:30pm over the accidental launch of a Hsiung Feng III anti-ship missile the previous day.
“No discipline, no army,” she said, signaling that there are serious problems with the operations of troops.
She concluded the meeting with six directives: Compensate all the victims of the incident, the injured and their families; discipline the inexcusable act; punish all liable people; the Ministry of National Defense must increase discipline and training to conform to more stringent standards; work together to face the challenge; frankly explain the incident to the nation’s neighbors and China, and reiterate Taiwan’s determination to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region.
Yes, the incident “should not have happened,” but it did, and at a critical moment that almost prevented Tsai from returning from her first presidential overseas trip.
The incident has completely overshadowed Tsai’s trip and raised a lot of questions in Taiwanese communities around the world: Why was Petty Officer Second-Class Kao Chia-chun (高嘉駿) so excited to shout out “fired” with a toothy smile? Why was KMT Policy Committee Executive Director Alex Tsai (蔡正元) informed of the incident before Premier Lin Chuan (林全)? Why did the Hsiung Feng III perform at only 10 percent of its range of 300 to 400 nautical miles (556km to 741km)? Was the Hsiang Li Sheng (翔利昇) automatically engaged by the missile by mistake? Is Taiwan ready to fire back against a Chinese attack?
A Chinese Web commentator asked: “Why did President Tsai so kindly launch a firecracker to celebrate the CCP’s [Chinese Communist Party] 95th birthday on July 1?”
However, the incident inadvertently highlighted the end of Tsai’s first “perilous crises” trip: The night before Tsai’s departure, the Taoyuan Flight Attendants Union launched a strike, but ended it within 24 hours; 30 minutes before Tsai’s departure there was a bomb scare on her plane; and a strike by China Airlines Employees’ Union ended on its second day.
The unexpected troubles faild to discourage Tsai from taking an overseas trip.
Tsai overcame them one after another and obtained fruitful diplomatic results wherever she visited.
During her transit in Miami, she met US Senator Marco Rubio and US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who promised to help Taiwan’s bid to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
In Panama, Tsai signed a registration book of the Panama Canal Expansion Project opening ceremony as the “President of Taiwan.” She explained to the media later that she was elected by 23 million Taiwanese, therefore she is entitled to be named the “President of Taiwan.”
Her statement was criticized by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators and KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who said that Tsai was sworn into office under the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution and her title should be the president of the ROC, not Taiwan.
Ironically, those who insisted Tsai’s title should be the president of the ROC dare not mention the ROC when they meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
As far as the Peoples’ Republic of China (PRC) and the international community are concerned, the ROC died in 1949 and the name “Chinese Taipei” is known as the abbreviation of the exiled Chinese government in Taipei. The ROC is not a publicly recognized independent sovereign nation.
What is the political status of Taiwan today? Is it “the Republic of Taiwan?” Not yet. There is no Taiwanese constitution, Taiwanese government or Taiwanese nation, how could it qualify as an independent sovereign nation? An exiled government would never be recognized as a normalized nation by simply changing its name.
Taiwan must form a civil government, constitute an organic law, elect a normal government, ask for an end to military occupation, declare the restoration of sovereignty and apply for UN membership. Only then can it become an established normal sovereign nation.
Two hundred and forty years ago, residents of the 13 American colonies fought for the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness against Britain to became an independent nation. They elected a government to secure their inalienable rights.
What kind of government does Taiwan expect to have: a Chinese government, a Chinese Taipei government or Taiwanese government?
Tsai’s trip clearly exposed some fundamental issues facing the nation. Why did Taiwanese elect the ROC president? Why is the president elected by Taiwanese not respected as the president of Taiwan? How and when can Taiwanese elect an official president?
Life is an infinite journey, where is Taiwan headed?
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
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