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Bob Dole, representatives support Taiwan in articles

Former US senator Bob Dole, who was also the Republican Party's presidential candidate in 1996, urged US President George W. Bush to support Taiwan's application for UN membership in a Wall Street Journal article.

The article, published on Monday, came ahead of the UN General Assembly meeting, which convenes today in New York.

In the opinion piece titled "Let Taiwan join the UN," Dole also called on Bush to actively or tacitly support Taiwan's plans to hold a referendum next year on its UN bid.

Calling Taiwan the US' "close Asian friend and ally," Dole said Taiwan needs and deserves this recognition and support, which would at the same time advance the US' regional and global interests in promoting democratization.

Dole said the reason that the US and other major powers discouraged Taiwan in its quest for international recognition of its de facto independence is that "they do not want to raise the ire of the PRC [People's Republic of China]."

The "PRC, as a member of the UN Security Council, can block any significant UN action, and as a global power, can interfere on a host of issues important to the US and Europe," he said.

Dole said the predictions that expanding economic relationships with China would produce political cracks in Beijing's authoritarian regime have proved wrong.

"Today, Beijing is using its newfound economic might to isolate Taiwan still further in international organizations ... Meanwhile, the people of the PRC enjoy fewer political rights and civil liberties than in all but a few of the world's countries," he said.

Dole said that Taiwan "meets all of the requirements of statehood under law" and was poised to be a significant contributor to UN operations, where it would play a constructive role.

Meanwhile, three members of the US Congressional Taiwan Caucus, Republican representatives Steve Chabot and Dana Rohrabacher and Democrat Representative Shelley Berkley co-authored an op-ed piece in support of Taiwan's UN bid published in yesterday's Washington Times.

"When the UN General Assembly conducts its annual meeting tomorrow, Taiwan deserves a fair hearing. Let the UN and its member states exercise their authority to judge Taiwan's application. And America's voice must be heard at this forum, supporting Taiwan's right to apply for a meaningful UN role and reaffirming its longstanding policy regarding Taiwan," they said in the article titled "Don't abandon Taiwan."

They called it an "error" on the part of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to reject Taiwan's application in late July and cite UN Resolution 2758 as saying that Taiwan is an integral part of the PRC.

Ban's unilateral rejection of Taiwan's application for membership is at a minimum problematic for US policy and stability in the region, they said.

"At worst, it is a dangerous misstep that could embolden the PRC to embark on further aggressive measures, such as Beijing's 2005 `Anti-Secession' Law, which codifies Taiwan as a part of [the] PRC and might legitimize Beijing's use of force against Taiwan," they said.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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