Taiwan and the UN
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has refused to relay Taiwan's request to be admitted as a member to the UN. Ban took the position that Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Taiwanese community in the US disagrees with his position.
In 1971, the then US ambassador to the UN, former president George Bush, proposed that China be admitted with dual representation of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and China at the UN. The Republic of China (ROC) was a founding member of the UN and a permanent member of the Security Council. It was Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) who refused Bush's proposal, which led to the passage of UN Resolution 2758. The resolution expelled "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" from the General Assembly and replaced them with representatives of the PRC.
Ban has misinterpreted this resolution. Resolution 2758 did not expel the ROC. In fact, the careful wording was intended to keep open the sovereignty of Taiwan, which is undecided. The San Francisco Peace Treaty did not spell out who would own Taiwan when Japan surrendered and gave up ownership after World War II.
Taiwan is a vibrant democratic country. The Taiwanese people have elected a president through free general elections three times. Taiwan has 23 million inhabitants and is independent in spirit, mind and governance from China. Many polls have shown more than 74 percent of Taiwanese want Taiwan to be independent.
It is only the defeated old regime and its loyal followers who want to be united with China. This is a minority position and we know in their hearts they do not want to be governed by the Taiwanese majority nor China. The propaganda to unite with China is a tool to evade majority rule.
This is the 15th year that Taiwan has tried to become a member of the UN. Taiwanese-Americans and the Taiwanese only ask that the issue be open to debate in the UN General Assembly. Ban has ignored his responsibility to uphold the UN's core values of peace and equality between nations. A UN for all is what a responsible citizen in any country would like to see and have. In this case, the wishes of 23 million Taiwanese who long to be a UN participant are being denied and limited by Ban.
Tien C. Cheng
Libertyville
Under a US administration where freedom and democracy have been the rallying cry for so much activism abroad, it seems particularly ironic -- and counterproductive -- to deny support to democracies that already exist. Yet, in a recent interview, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte emphasized that the US was strongly opposed to a Taiwanese referendum on UN membership, a proposal that is favored by more than three-quarters of Taiwanese.
The fear, of course, is that such a move would be perceived as the first step in Taiwan's declaration of independence, provoking China and potentially altering the "status quo."
This is not the first time that Washington's "one China" policy has caused it to deny support to Taiwan at a critical juncture in the nation's democratic development.
The US has failed to back Taiwan in each of its 13 attempts to apply for UN membership. And while 16 countries have signed a petition to support Taiwan's bid this year, the US is absent from this list.
To oppose Taiwan's efforts to join the UN is to oppose the advance of democracy and to place our national security at risk. A Freedom House report this year said Taiwan was one of the most vibrant democracies and freest countries in all of Asia. Taiwan is also the US' 17th largest trading partner and one of its most important strategic allies in the Western Pacific.
Negroponte said that a referendum on UN membership would be a "mistake." But history will judge that the only true mistake will be the US' continual abandonment of this sovereign democratic nation. The US needs to change its Taiwan policy and now is the time.
Jack Chen
Austin, Texas
Don't count on China
China has said that it would take a significant step toward greater military transparency by reporting its armed forces budget. Besides promising a more detailed military budget, China said it would also provide data on its holdings and sales of conventional weapons, in accordance with UN conventions. China's offer to be more open about its military reflects its growing confidence, thanks to three decades of economic growth.
The vow for more transparency indicates that Beijing now feels the need, amid a dramatic military build-up in recent years, to defuse anti-China voices abroad. But China is unlikely to provide a true account.
Despite the fact that China has published a regular defense white paper in recent years, this has divulged little useful data.
China has a long tradition of restricting information on all military matters, and it is likely that it will continue to withhold key information.
Although China said it would resume providing data under the UN Register of Conventional Arms, the non-binding nature of the convention leaves wide latitude for Beijing to withhold key information. The usefulness of any new information they give depends on whether they are just going through the motions or really moving in the direction of transparency.
Borrac Ho
Taipei
In a meeting with Haitian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Victor Harvel Jean-Baptiste on Tuesday, President William Lai (賴清德) vowed to continue providing aid to Haiti. Taiwan supports Haiti with development in areas such as agriculture, healthcare and education through initiatives run by the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund (ICDF). The nation it has established itself as a responsible, peaceful and innovative actor committed to global cooperation, Jean-Baptiste said. Testimonies such as this give Taiwan a voice in the global community, where it often goes unheard. Taiwan’s reception in Haiti also contrasts with how China has been perceived in countries in the region
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The world has become less predictable, less rules-based, and more shaped by the impulses of strongmen and short-term dealmaking. Nowhere is this more consequential than in East Asia, where the fate of democratic Taiwan hinges on how global powers manage — or mismanage — tensions with an increasingly assertive China. The return of Donald Trump to the White House has deepened the global uncertainty, with his erratic, highly personalized foreign-policy approach unsettling allies and adversaries alike. Trump appears to treat foreign policy like a reality show. Yet, paradoxically, the global unpredictability may offer Taiwan unexpected deterrence. For China, the risk of provoking the
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