Referendum preceeds UN
It has been 73 years since World War II ended, and Taiwanese have finally loudly and publicly announced what they want for the future of Taiwan.
On April 7, the Formosa Alliance was officially established. Formosa TV talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) facilitated the meeting.
During the opening ceremony, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) said: “More than 75 percent of Taiwan’s population identify as Taiwanese, so now is the time for all Taiwanese to abandon their prejudices and push for Taiwan’s participation in the international community by rectifying our national name and constituting a new Taiwanese Constitution.”
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in a prerecorded video said: “Taiwan must become a new and independent nation; Taiwan must enter the UN.”
National Taiwan University medical school student Chang Min-chao (張閔喬) said: “[Democracy activist] Deng [Nan-jung (鄭南榕)] said that if I do not build a Taiwanese nation, then Taiwan will not be able to be truly democratized. The ROC [Republic of China] is the real obstacle to Taiwan’s democratization. The native grassroots party has degenerated from self-determination into maintaining the ‘status quo.’ Step by step, China is moving toward unifying Taiwan now, not in the future. The independent [supporting] youths are ready to fight against China, both the PRC [the People’s Republic of China] and the ROC. We are not afraid of the ROC government. Let us sweep the illusionary nation ROC hanging over Taiwan for over 70 years into history and build a real new nation that belongs to all of us.”
The launch of the Formosa Alliance is a great historical event for Taiwan, but it was boycotted by all media except Formosa TV. All panel members did a great job and they clearly pointed out the real problems facing Taiwan today, but we did not see any detailed reports in any media outlets in Taiwan.
What a shame. Taiwanese history will examine those who supported it and those who sang a different tune.
The theme of the meeting was “independence referendum, name rectification and joining the UN,” as we know the main purpose of a referendum is self-determination and building a new nation — Taiwan — not independence from China, so there is no need to rectify or change the name.
It would be a new nation entering the UN. Taiwan still has a long way to go to transform itself from a militarily occupied nation into a sovereign state joining the UN.
However, a self-rule referendum must be the first step. Once the new nation is established, it is time to apply for UN membership.
Let us learn from history. The US Congress passed the Platt Amendment and Cuba became independent; it passed the Tydings-McDuffie Act and the Philippines became independent.
Now the US has passed the Taiwan Relations Act and the Taiwan Travel Act to support Taiwan, but Taiwan will go nowhere if it remains under the ROC.
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
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