At a virtual talk hosted by the Washington-based German Marshall Fund of the United States on Thursday, Rick Waters, US deputy assistant secretary of state for China, Taiwan and Mongolia in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, accused China of inaccurately interpreting UN Resolution 2758 and urged other UN member nations to join the US in supporting Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN system.
Although it replaced the Republic of China with the People’s Republic of China as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, the resolution does not say that “Taiwan is part of China.” This should mean that Taiwan’s only chance to make a successful application to join the UN would be by using the name “Taiwan.” However, there is a problem.
China has many UN member states under its thumb and Washington has yet to amend its foreign policy of not supporting Taiwan’s participation in international organizations that have sovereign states as members. The US’ strategy in the Taiwan Strait is still constricted by the framework of its own “one China” policy.
Given this, if Taiwan were to join the UN, Taipei would first need to urge Washington to amend its “one China” policy. Only then could Taiwan obtain the US’ wholehearted support for joining the WHO — the UN organization for which Taiwan could be said to be the most qualified — and then knock at the door of UN membership.
Presently, Taiwan can only participate in the World Health Assembly with the assistance of the US and under the status of an “observer.” As a way of breaking this logjam, Taiwan’s diplomatic corps could recruit the assistance of the many powerful overseas Taiwanese groups and organizations, and ask them to make donations to election campaigns and help to get out the vote.
That way, the US Congress could be filled with lawmakers who are more Taiwan-friendly to build even closer ties between the two nations. Once in office, these lawmakers could lobby the US government to amend its “one China” policy so that it could support Taiwan’s participation in international organizations that have sovereign states as members.
During US presidential election campaigns, overseas Taiwanese should take a leaf out of the notebook of Israeli Americans and do everything in their power to ensure that the Taiwan issue becomes a focal point of elections. Closer relations between Taipei and Washington would result in a US foreign policy that is more Taiwan-centric. This influence and a Congress full of pro-Taiwan lawmakers could push to amend the US’ “one China” policy.
With the US’ “one China” policy amended, Taiwan would have a chance of becoming a member of the WHO, and draw upon the nation’s expertise in medicine and public healthcare to contribute even more broadly to the international community.
Having distinguished itself in the UN’s most important organization, Taiwan would then be in a position to knock on the door of the UN.
Michael Lin is a retired diplomat who served in the US.
Translated by Edward Jones
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