Taiwan must be Taiwan, says TSU

Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers yesterday urged the government to establish a committee for the rectification of Taiwan's name so that Taiwanese might be able to say that "our mother's name is `Taiwan.'"

Wearing T-shirts written "changing the name for Taiwan" and shouting "Go, go Taiwan," the independence-minded lawmakers made the comments at the legislature, drumming up support for a march entitled "call Taiwan, Taiwan" that will be held this afternoon.

With the aim of ending the confusion and inconvenience created by the large number of names by which the country is known, the TSU legislative caucus raised a motion Tuesday to set up a committee under the Executive Yuan to campaign for the use of Taiwan as the nation's official name.

Succumbing to China's pressure, Taiwan's government has never used the name "Taiwan" to participate in any international activity. Taiwan has been variously called "Republic of China," "Chinese Taipei," Taipei," or "Republic of China on Taiwan."

Not using "Taiwan" has caused confusion and decreased the nation's international publicity, the lawmakers said.

"The government has to realize the necessity and urgency of rectifying the name of Taiwan and promoting the change of name first in governmental agencies and embassies, then in the private sector," they said.

There are several state-run businesses whose names include "China," such as the Chinese Petroleum Corp (中國石油), China Petrochemical Development Corp (中國石油化學工業開發), China Shipbuilding Corp (中船), and China Steel Corp (中鋼).

"`China' should be dropped from the title of public-owned organizations and `Taiwan' should be added to embassies overseas," the legislators said.

When the task was completed, they suggested the government encourage private enterprises to include "Taiwan" in the titles of their companies.

To achieve these ends, tens of thousands are expected to take to the streets today, marching to campaign for the use of "Taiwan" as the official name of the nation.

The rally is organized by the "Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan" (台灣正名運動聯盟), composed of the TSU and dozen of non-governmental pro-Taiwan groups which have been promoting the name change to help Taiwan assert its place in the international community.

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) serves as the general convener of the event, but he will not be present at the rally because the organizers advised against the 79-year-old's walking under the scorching heat.

Instead, TSU chairman Huang Chu-wen (黃主文) will lead TSU supporters in the march on behalf of Lee, who is considered the party's spiritual leader.

Chairman of the World United Formosans for Independence Ng Chiautong (黃昭堂), one of the organizers, stressed that name rectification is not the equivalent of name change, rather, it should be considered as "restoring our rightful name."