On Oct. 25, 1971, at the 26th session of the UN General Assembly, Resolution 2758 was adopted and the assembly decided to “restore all its rights to the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and to recognize the representatives of its government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it.”
This resolution might show that the Republic of China (ROC) has been replaced by the PRC, but it does not resolve the issue of sovereignty over Taiwan. It also ignores that Taiwanese were living under martial law enforced by an authoritarian dictatorship.
On April 10, 1979, Taiwan was for the first time given its proper name and the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) was established, as the US Congress promulgated the Taiwan Relations Act in response to Washington breaking off diplomatic relations with the ROC.
More than 25 years later, the government has lifted martial law and holds free legislative and direct presidential elections, but the road to rectifying the national title continues to be fraught with difficulty.
Around the world the nation is called “Taiwan,” even by the most hostile nation, China.
In a tweet after a telephone conversation between President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and US president-elect Donald Trump, Trump referred to Tsai “Taiwan’s president.”
On Wednesday last week, the Japanese government announced that the Interchange Association, Japan would change its name to the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association effective Sunday.
The US and Japan have taken the lead in building momentum for the rectification of Taiwan’s national title. The representative office in Taiwan of the EU’s biggest member state, Germany, has been called the “German Institute in Taiwan” since May 2015, and the UK has changed the name of its office to the “British Office Taipei.”
Furthermore, as Japan prepares to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, friends of Taiwan in Japan have initiated a signature drive asking Tokyo to refer to Taiwanese athletes as the “Taiwan team.”
Lokk at Taiwan’s Coordination Council for North American Affairs in the US, to the Association of East Asian Relations in Japan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office branches around the world, as well as international trading companies and travel agencies, it is clear that Taiwan’s overseas offices have had a lot of odd names.
This is not a matter of other countries not giving Taiwan the chance to correct its national title; rather, it is a matter of Taiwan itself not daring to correct it.
It is only to be expected that China would express extreme dissatisfaction if Taiwan were to change its national title, but doing so would only be describing a fundamental fact and there is no need to pay any attention to any unreasonable reaction from China.
The government should respond to the changing situation and use it as an opportunity to start promoting a name change, at home and abroad, and work to highlight Taiwan’s national dignity and international status.
Li Chuan-hsin is vice president of the Northern Taiwan Society.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, people have been asking if Taiwan is the next Ukraine. At a G7 meeting of national leaders in January, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that Taiwan “could be the next Ukraine” if Chinese aggression is not checked. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that if Russia is not defeated, then “today, it’s Ukraine, tomorrow it can be Taiwan.” China does not like this rhetoric. Its diplomats ask people to stop saying “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.” However, the rhetoric and stated ambition of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Taiwan shows strong parallels with