The US should not oppose Taiwan's bid to join the UN under the name "Taiwan," as it had proposed "dual representation" for Taiwan and China in the global body in 1971, former presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming (
Koo was referring to the proposal by then US undersecretary of state Robert Murphy, who in 1971 was sent by US president Richard Nixon on a mission to Taiwan to persuade then president Chiang Kai-shek (
Chiang rejected the proposal, insisting that "gentlemen cannot stand together with thieves (漢賊不兩立)," meaning that his Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) could not coexist with the Chinese communists.
Consequently, the UN General Assembly on Oct. 25, 1971, passed Resolution 2758, "expelling the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the UN and in all the organizations related to it."
Koo, who had just returned from a 13-day visit to the US during which he met US politicians, think tanks and former US officials in Washington to lobby for Taiwan's UN campaign, said yesterday that the US, while insisting on maintaining the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait, frequently changed the status quo as it saw fit.
Criticizing the US for basing its Taiwan policy on a "one China" principle, Koo said in an interview with the Taipei Times yesterday that while it would take time for the US government to adjust its "one China" policy, certain matters can be dealt with immediately.
Taking the nation's representative office in the US as an example, Koo said it could be changed to "Taiwan Institute in America" as the US government's de facto embassy here is called the "American Institute in Taiwan."
Koo said it was "not very smart" for the US to base its Taiwan policy on the assumption that a war might break out in the Taiwan Strait because it will not, as an authoritarian regime would need at least 10 to 15 years of stability to develop the economy.
If China thinks it could take over Taiwan easily as it develops into a military power, it should learn from German and Japanese expansionism during World War II and think about the consequences, Koo said.
The US, however, is not the only one that should be blamed for the obstacles Taiwan has encountered in its application to join the world body, Koo said, as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration's flawed strategy is also responsible.
President Chen Shui-bian (
While some have proposed that the administration declare independence before pushing the UN campaign, Koo dismissed it as mere "technicality."
Taiwan is a de facto sovereignty. Joining the UN under the name `Taiwan' is a good way to tell the world that Taiwan deserves every right to become a member, Koo said.
"If we don't do it, how do we expect others to help us?" Koo said.
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