Taiwan should learn from Mongolia and allow its people to choose the country's official name to persuade the international community to recognize its sovereign status, a key DPP lawmaker said yesterday.
DPP Legislator Trong Chai (
"Mongolia called a plebiscite in October 1945 to declare its independence and China recognized its sovereignty in a public announcement the following January," Chai said in a statement.
In 1953, however, a reversal of the decision came when the KMT administration insisted that Mongolia was still ROC territory. Chai attributed the reversal to sour ties between the ROC and the former Soviet Union.
Braving the sovereignty row, Ulan Bator was able to become a member of the UN in 1961.
Chai suggested that Taiwan follow the Mongolian experience and assert its sovereignty on the world stage.
To that end, the DPP lawmaker pressed the legislature to pass a referendum law under which Taiwan's 23 million people would get the final say on the issue in line with the spirit of democracy.
During the last legislative session, Chai failed again to get referendum legislation placed on the legislative agenda. He has even had difficulty winning support from his own party, which has scrambled to shun controversial issues that could upset stability at home and across the Taiwan Strait.
"Taiwan's recent decision to recognize Mongolia as an independent nation shows that reality will prevail in the end," Chai said, adding that a referendum law has logically emerged as a solution to the cross-strait entanglement
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announcement on Monday that Taipei and Ulan Bator have agreed to set up liaison offices to promote bilateral ties drew applause from politicians from across the political spectrum.
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