UN for the ROC
“Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present charter and, in the judgment of the organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations,” the UN Charter Chapter II, Article 4-1 says, which clearly defines the qualifications for UN membership.
The 71st UN General Assembly is to be held on Sept. 13 and Taiwan UN Alliance president Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) has actively lobbied for application for UN membership through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lee (李大維) said “No” with an elegant diplomatic rhetoric.
“With regard to the UN issue, the government will undoubtedly continue our meaningful participation [at UN-related organizations], but will not promote Taiwanese membership in the global body,” he said.
Obviously, Lee is more realistic in diplomatic practices. Taiwan is simply not ready. Yes, years ago there was a debate over applying for UN membership either under the name of Taiwan or rejoining the UN under the name the Republic of China (ROC). Unfortunately, neither worked. Taiwan is not yet a nation or a “Republic of Taiwan,” so how can Taiwan apply in the name Taiwan?
Rejoining the UN under the name “ROC” sounds like Arabian Nights idiotic nonsense. The UN Resolution 2758 clearly spelled out that the ROC was officially replaced by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on Oct. 25, 1971. Now the PRC is the real representative of China and it also took representation of the ROC.
Before making an application, a nation has to be identified and accepted as a “peace-loving state.” Has Taiwan been recognized as a nation, under what name? A lot of Taiwanese said “Yes,” under the name ROC. They righteously believe that the “ROC is Taiwan and Taiwan is the ROC,” which owns Taiwan’s sovereignty.
They claim that the ROC has the four required elements of being a nation: people, territory, government and constitution. The ROC Constitution was rejected by the PRC and 1.3 billion Chinese. The ROC fantastically claims ownership of China and Mongolia, does it?
Taiwanese are not Chinese; the ROC government is even restricted to a board in China. So, who is represented by the ROC, China or Taiwan? If the ROC represents Taiwan, why is Taiwan not listed in the ROC Constitution?
Taiwanese have been brainwashed as citizens of the ROC since Sept. 2, 1945, when Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) military occupied Taiwan under General Douglas MacArthur’s General Order No. 1. Over decades, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government took Taiwan as part of China’s historic territory and held it as a scapegoat offered to China. They fabricated the so-called “1992 consensus” to flatter the PRC by following the “one China” policy and cheating Taiwanese into thinking that the ROC represents the real China.
In November last year, while meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Singapore, then-president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) finally eluded to the “1992 consensus” as meaning “one China” without different interpretations: It means Taiwan belongs to the ROC and therefore the PRC.
Fortunately, Taiwanese finally woke up and swept Ma into history.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said her government wants to establish ties with Beijing that are consistent, predictable and sustainable under the constitutional system, following the will of Taiwanese public opinion.
At the Rio de Janeiro Olympics we saw only two teams that paraded under the Olympic flag; Chinese Taipei, representing athletes from Taiwan, and the Refugee Olympic team, representing athletes from South Sudan, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Syria. What a shame that Taiwan’s pseudonym is Chinese Taipei.
Now Taiwanese can see clearly that the ROC is not recognized as a nation in the international arena. It neither represents China nor Taiwan. The ROC survives only in Taiwan, not in any other part of the world.
“So, where would be the ideal home for the ROC?” an audience member asked Taiwanese media personality Clara Chou (周玉蔻) on Sunday last week at the Embassy Suites in Milpitas, California.
“The ideal home for the ROC is unity with China under the three principles, but it could be replaced by the Republic of Taiwan or become a state of the Chinese Confederation,” Chou said.
Overall, the ROC is a fantastic illusion of a nation.
So, if Taiwan were to apply for UN membership, the door is always open to any peace-loving state. The ROC is an illusion, what about a Republic of Taiwan? It is simply not established yet. Is Taiwan really ready to apply for UN membership? It is a waste of time and money to tour the UN plaza and shout “UN for Taiwan.” That does not work. Taiwan must be identified as a peace-loving state first, then the UN door would be open wide for us.
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
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