Thu, May 03, 2007 page8

• Few countries support `one China'

  • By Winston Dang
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  At the end of the Fifth Session of the Tenth Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee last month, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) fielded questions on cross-strait relations at a press conference for foreign journalists.

  Wen reminded the international community that China is closely watching Taiwan's "separatist forces" and any moves it makes toward de jure independence. He claimed that Taiwan had always been part of China and would always be so.

  He unequivocally rejected recent changes in company names in Taiwan, replacing or removing the word "China" from names of state-owned companies, and rejected any constitutional reforms.

  Making such claims in front of the international community is nothing new, and Wen failed to say anything that had not been said before.

  Yet, to our surprise, it is precisely such worn out concepts as the "One China" policy that other countries and international bodies keep using to shake off important requests from Taiwan, such as an application for WHO or UN membership.

  When faced with such questions as "How do you define the `one China' policy?" or "Is Taiwan really a part of China?" most countries fail to come up with an answer.

  Indeed, there is only one China on this planet, but there is also one Taiwan and neither is subordinate to the other.

  When confronting China's increasingly skilled efforts to deny Taiwan's sovereignty, however, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been unable to take a clear stance on the basic point of the "one China" policy.

  By constantly beating its "one China" drum in the international arena, China hopes to brainwash the world into believing Taiwan is part of China.

  A detailed examination of the communique on establishing diplomatic relations that China has signed with 169 countries shows that only 39 of those countries state in their English versions that they "recognize" Taiwan as a province of China and an inseparable part of its territory.

  This is less than a quarter of those 169 countries and just under 20 percent of the 195 countries in the world.

  In other words, more than 80 percent of the 195 countries do not "recognize" Taiwan as part of China.

  If we look at what these 169 agreements do say regarding Taiwan's status -- in particular its communiques with countries such as the US, Japan and Canada, we find these countries "acknowledge [China's position]," "understand and respect [China's position]," or "take note of [China's position]."

  Of the 27 member countries of the EU, only Portugal, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia "recognize" Taiwan as part of China.

  However, with the exception of Portugal, these are countries that have recently emerged from communist regimes.

  The joint communiques signed by most EU countries, including Germany, the UK, France, Sweden, Denmark and Finland, "recognize there is only one China and that the Government of the People's Republic of China [PRC] is the sole legal government of China (and its people)."

  There is no mention of Taiwan. This is sufficient to show that although they may recognize China's sovereignty and the legitimacy of the PRC, by dint of neglecting the issue, most of these countries have actually made it clear that Taiwan is not a part of China.

  However, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs consistently fails to make good use of this fact, which could help Taiwan's efforts in international diplomacy.

  In an opinion poll carried out by Taiwan Thinktank at the beginning of the year on "topics relating to constitutional reform," 61.2 percent of respondents said they thought that the national territory of the Republic of China covers "Taiwan and the islands of Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu."

  Additionally, as many as 76.1 percent of respondents said the sovereignty of Taiwan can only be decided Taiwan's 23 million people.

  The results of a further survey by Taiwan Thinktank on "Cross-strait relations two years after the `Anti-Secession Law'" passed by China showed last month that as many as 80 percent of Taiwanese people "disagree" with the law's claim that Taiwan is part of China.

  Seventy-four percent of Taiwanese said that China's "Anti-Secession" Law amounts to Beijing adopting an enemy stance.

  Moreover, 80 percent of the public think that the future of Taiwan should be decided by the people of Taiwan and that China has no right to involve itself in the domestic political affairs of the nation of Taiwan.

  This clearly indicates that the idea of a sovereign Taiwan has become firmly established in the hearts and minds of the Taiwanese people.

  Regarding international participation, 77 percent of Taiwanese approved of Taiwan applying for entry to the UN under the name "Taiwan," while a full 95 percent believed Taiwan should be given full membership in the WHO.

  This is in line with the results of a survey that was carried out last year by National Chengchi University's Election Study Center on behalf of the Mainland Affairs Council, which found that 75.8 percent of Taiwanese agreed that the government should continue to push for participation in the UN.

  Just over 70 percent in this survey agreed that an application for entry into the UN should be made under the name "Taiwan."

  Following the rejection of Taiwan's 14th bid to join the UN, China haughtily proclaimed: "As Taiwan is a part of China it is not qualified to enter the UN by any means and under any name because the UN is made up of sovereign countries."

  The Election Study Center's survey made it clear that 85.2 percent of Taiwanese disapprove of China's statement, indicating that the overwhelming majority of Taiwan's people share the opinion that Taiwan should be fully accepted into the international community and permitted to participate in international affairs as a state entity.

  When the Republic of China (ROC) was founded in 1912, Taiwan was controlled by the Japanese government and not the ROC.

  The "original territory" referred to in the General Provisions of the Constitution of the ROC is based on the fourth clause of the National Assembly's May 5th Draft Constitution, which states that the territory covers all the provinces of China, Mongolia and Tibet.

  Taiwan was not included in the "original territory," so it is not plausible to claim that Taiwan belonged to the "original territory" of the ROC.

  It is worth noting that not once during the 50 years that Japan ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 did the Japanese government say, "Taiwan is part of Japan."

  When the PRC was established in 1949, Taiwan was well outside its boundaries of governance, and there is no ground for claiming Taiwan is part of the "original territory" of the PRC.

  From 1949 to this day, Taiwan has never been under the governance of the PRC, but has had its own independent governmental system and head of state.

  In 1996, Taiwan consolidated its democracy and elected its national leader via a direct election by the people.

  Taiwan continues to make great progress in becoming a nation that is fully democratic and honors human rights.

  Winston Dang is a DPP legislator.
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