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Panelists reject idea of holding referendum on UN bid

The Executive Yuan's Referendum Evaluation Committee held a hearing yesterday on whether Taiwan should participate in the UN as "Taiwan," and panelists agreed the real issue was winning greater recognition of the nation's sovereignty, not whether there should be a referendum about a UN bid.

"When we are deciding whether there should be a referendum, we must evaluate the controversialness of the issue, whether the issue will concern the public and whether the issue will become new national or government policy," said Yang Tai-shun (楊泰順), a political science professor at the Chinese Culture University.

"I would like to ask if today's issue fits any of the requirements I just mentioned," Yang said.

"Even if the result of the referendum shows that the answer is yes -- we want to join the UN as `Taiwan.' So what? Will it change anything? No," he said

Yang said it cost NT$400 million (US$12 million) to hold a referendum, so the committee could not be careful enough when it came to evaluating what issues to put to a referendum.

Hsu Ching-hsiung (許慶雄), a law professor, said the UN bid should not be a referendum issue because no Taiwanese person would veto such an idea.

"We should discuss how we are going to join the UN," Hsu said.

He said when the Republic of China (ROC) withdrew from the UN in 1971, the People's Republic of China (PRC) succeeded the ROC's legal authorization and UN seat.

"That means the `ROC' is a trademark, but the trademark now belongs to the PRC. The PRC has the right to decide whether they want to use the name `ROC' or put it away," Hsu said.

"How can you try to argue for using somebody else's trademark when the trademark does not belong to you?" Hsu said.

Former representative to the US Stephen Chen (陳錫蕃) said a referendum should be held instead to determine whether Taiwan should declare formal independence.

He said that to join the UN, the applicant must be an independent country with endorsement and support from foreign allies.

Taiwan's biggest problem is that the official name of the country is the ROC, but this name is no longer recognized by the majority of countries in the world, Chen said.
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