At a televised presentation held by the Central Election Commission yesterday, the representative from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) urged voters to support both UN referendums that are to take place on March 22, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) representative said that the DPP's referendum would damage the nation's international image and voters should only support the KMT's version.
The DPP has petitioned for a referendum to seek UN membership using the name "Taiwan," while the KMT's version advocates rejoining the UN using the "Republic of China [ROC]" or any other "practical" name.
At the beginning of her presentation, DPP Legislator Kuan Pi-ling (管碧玲) stressed that seeking UN membership as the ROC was not practical.
"Since 1993, we've been trying to join the UN using the name `Republic of China' -- but all attempts have failed because the name `China' at the UN has already been taken over by the People's Republic of China [PRC]," Kuan said.
The international community would, therefore, be "unable to support our bid to join the UN if we continue to use the name `Republic of China,'" she said.
Using the name "Taiwan" for the nation's UN membership bid does not necessarily mean that the country has to change its official title, she said.
"For example, the names that Switzerland and Macedonia use at the UN are different from their official country names," she said.
As well as promoting the DPP's version, Kuan urged everybody to vote for both parties' versions.
She said that since it has always been the government that is seeking to join the UN, "our voice is sometimes considered a minority voice and we are sometimes regarded as a `trouble maker.'"
The public, therefore, should voice their opinion through the referendums, she said.
"If the people support the referendums and pass them, it will be the first time that we as a people have expressed our wish to join the UN," Kuan said.
Kuan also told voters who are in favor of unification with China that the nation's membership in UN would not kill any chance of unification.
"North and South Korea are good examples," Kuan said. "In fact, if both Taiwan and the PRC were UN members, we'd be on an equal footing, and it would facilitate our unification negotiations."
Francis Kan (甘逸驊), an assistant research fellow at National Chengchi University, who represented the KMT, argued that the DPP's referendum would hurt the nation.
"Many countries, including the US, the European Union [sic], France, Germany and Britain have officially condemned Taiwan's attempt to seek UN membership using the name `Taiwan,'" he said. "Instead of helping Taiwan's UN membership bid, the [DPP] referendum is doing just the opposite."
Kuan warned that because so many countries had expressed their opposition, the DPP's move may "threaten Taiwan's security."
He further promoted the KMT's version, saying that it would render more "flexibility and tolerance to Taiwan's UN membership bid," and it would be "easier for our own people to reach a consensus."
While leaving the name flexible, "we can try to convince countries that are friendly to us to support our bid," he said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS