Despite mounting calls to change the nation's name from the Republic of China to Taiwan, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday that the government will stick with the current moniker for its UN bid next year.
"Since rectification the nation's formal designation requires a constitutional amendment, the name we use to enter the UN will remain the Republic of China as stipulated in the Constitution," Yu told the Taipei Times during an exclusive interview yesterday.
The nation, using the name "Republic of China (Taiwan)," failed in its 11th bid to join the UN yesterday.
The word Taiwan in parentheses is used to help clarify the difference between the ROC and the People's Republic of China (PRC), Yu said.
While a significant breakthrough in the nation's continual bids to join the international body still seems a long way off, Yu said that the government will try to increase the participation of the nation's NGOs in events organized by international organizations.
"In addition, the government will fortify the international campaign to promote the nation's UN bid as well as strengthen cooperation with its diplomatic allies and major countries without diplomatic ties such as the US and EU," Yu said.
Yu said during the interview that the government will try to create a new security pact for the Asia-Pacific region, the North America-Asia Treaty Organization (NAATO).
"We anticipate Beijing's vehement opposition to our bid to create this Asian version of NATO, but we won't give up hope and will do our best to gain access to the regional alliance," Yu said. "I'm calling on its prospective members to realize that the organization will not be successful if Taiwan is not part of the safety network because there'll be a yawning chasm in regional security."
The idea of the NAATO comes as the Pentagon is preparing major shifts in the deployment of its forces in the region.
Discreet talks on the prospects for a new security system for Asian-Pacific nations have been under way between the Pentagon and the Indian government.
Professor Madhav Nalapat, an adviser to India's National Security Council and director of the School of Geopolitics at the Manipal Academy -- India's largest private university -- and one of the officials involved in the talks with the Pentagon, has long argued in favor of a formal US-led security system for the Asia-Pacific region.
He argued that the establishment of NAATO would defend democratic values and exclude countries with authoritarian structures or religious states.
"The test [for membership] has to be whether people of all faiths are given equal rights under the law, and whether they enjoy the democratic freedoms NAATO is intended to defend," Nalapat wrote in one of his essays that attracted attention in Washington.
Nalapat's proposal suggests that the US, Canada, India, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, the Philippines and South Korea -- along with pro-Western and reform-minded Arab nations such as Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar -- are natural potential members of the new security system.
Nalapat also sees Taiwan as a potential member, which is likely to heighten fears in Beijing that the new US-Indian friendship is largely aimed at containing China.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard