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It was expected that Taiwan's UN bid will fail, there was no way for it to succeed. China would never allow such a thing, and it's quite remarkable to see how Taiwan is handling the international politics on that regard.
The first thing you learn about Taiwan's politics, while in Taiwan, is that the China-Taiwan relationship is the basic construct of Taiwanese politics. When I was in Taiwan Taiwan's green (pro-independence) president - Chen - has tried to cancel some sort of committee for the reunification with China which hasn't been in session for about 15 years, and China created a big international crisis and threatened an aggressive reaction because of that. Lately, I'm surprised to see how obvious and straightforward Chen and Taiwan are regarding the independence from China - it's not something that some petty government clerks or pro-green newspapers say, it seems to be a national policy that's out in the open, and the UN bid is just one example that reassures that.
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Visiting the Taiwanese Cultural Affairs office in London I've had the pleasure of enjoying some wonderful Taiwanese hospitality with Belgium chocolates and Chinese tea. Waiting there, I read an interesting magazine offered which is officially published by the Taiwanese government - "Taiwan Review " (Sep2006). The magazine started off with a fascinating editorial about "UN membership and regional security " :
[...] The entire strategy of China's "one China" policy is to try to reduce Taiwan to a sub-national status, in accordance with the principles of some sort of Berkeleyan idealism - if nobody recognizes a state, then it doesn't exist. [...]
The reality is, of course, that the Republic of China (ROC) did not cease to exist simply because its writ no longer ran on the mainland. Nor did UN Resolution 2758, according to which Beijing took over the China seat from Taipei, define Taiwan as part of China. The status and separate representation of Taiwan was never dealt with. [...]
Ofcourse Taiwan is not a part of the People's republic of China, it is a separate state, and the only international legal justifications for war with other states are self-defense and UN sanction (bold not in original text).
A very clear message indeed.
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There's much more, but this time from the president himself. In a most impressive speech by president Chen to the UN, Chen sends a very clear message to the world (bold not in original text):
Taiwan fulfills all the conditions required for UN membership as stipulated in the UN Charter. Taiwan is an independent, sovereign, and peace-loving country. More importantly, Taiwan is willing and able to fulfill all of the obligations stated in the UN Charter. The voice of the 23 million people of Taiwan should not go unheard but, rather, should be heeded and taken notice of by the international community. More importantly, the people of Taiwan should not be deprived of their collective human rights. [...] We believe the disputes and conflicts existing between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can only be resolved through peaceful dialogue, and only by doing so will [the process] be beneficial to human society as a whole. [...]
Yes, indeed, there exists the "one-China" issue and yes, indeed, there is only one China in the world. That is the People's Republic of China. And we here in Taiwan have no intention and will never try to fight to represent that "one China.". [...]
So, we feel, just let the People's Republic of China represent that one China in the world. And let the PRC represent the 1.3 billion people of China. But China cannot represent the 23 million people of Taiwan. Only the duly elected government of Taiwan has that right, and only the legally elected government of Taiwan has the right to represent those 23 million people and exercise their right to participate in the United Nations. [...]
Even though strong divisions exist over national identity in Taiwan, most of Taiwan's people could never accept the scenario in which Taiwan becomes a second Hong Kong, nor could they accept the "one country, two systems" formula. They will not allow Taiwan to be belittled as a province or a special administrative region under the jurisdiction of China. Taiwan is a sovereign nation. [...]
It took us 12 years to become the 144th member of the World Trade Organization. And we have tried for 12 years to become an observer to the World Health Assembly, but our hope has yet to be realized. Although we have spent 14 years trying to gain entry to the United Nations without success, we will never give up.
With my lacking understanding in Taiwanese politics, it seems to me that there was a change in policy which I hadn't noticed before :
- Placing the bid under the name of Taiwan and not The Republic of China.
- Furthermore, changing the bid so that it wouldn't be about the return of ROC to the UN after the expel on 1971, but to place a big for joining in a new country by the name of Taiwan.
The reporters there were wondering about that themselves :
President Chen's responses to questions raised by the media:
Ian Williams, The Nation; Asia Times: [...] I was wondering just how squeaky you think the PRC would find this. Will they see this as a sort of act or declaration of the independence, which they keep threatening about.
President Chen: It is very clear that China will react, and we are very clear as to how China will react, to Taiwan's attempt to join the UN - it will definitely obstruct our participation. It will be just like Taiwan's application to gain observership to the World Health Assembly.
[...]
Therefore, instead of using the old thinking of returning to the United Nations, we are now considering applying as a new member. [...] This has led to the idea that, in order to demonstrate the will and resolve of the people and government of Taiwan to join the United Nations under the name Taiwan, we may consider holding a referendum on this issue in order to show our strong determination and to make the international community hear the truest voice of the Taiwan's 23 million citizens.
Does it get any clearer than that? I wonder how come I haven't seen anything but sneers from the Chinese media or an official Chinese government response. Is it possible that China no longer cares about Taiwan's independence self-promotion?
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Roger C. S. Lin
| November 20th, 2006 at 11:38 am #
President Chen’s comments to the United Nations that “Taiwan fulfills all the conditions required for UN membership as stipulated in the UN Charter. Taiwan is an independent, sovereign, and peace-loving country ….. ” conveniently ignore the realities of international treaty law. Taiwan was a territorial cession after WWII, and (unfortunately) there are no international treaties which specify that the territorial title to the areas of Formosa and the Pescadores were ever given to the Republic of China. In fact, a little known methodology under international law can show, in a quite coherent fashion, that Taiwan is actually “occupied territory of the United States of America.” Based on this analysis, a group of Taiwanese people have recently filed a lawsuit in Washington D.C. to have their rights under US laws, including the US Constitution, fully recognized. A summary of the case is here — http://www.taiwankey.net/dc/suitsuen3.htm … Notably, under this methodology, the ROC on Taiwan can only be regarded as a “government in exile,” …… and truthfully speaking this fact explains a lot of what we see (year after year) about the situation of the ROC on Taiwan as being an “orphan of the international community.” In summary, where there is smoke, there is fire, and the ROC on Taiwan would not be being ignored by the world community, and the United Nations, without good reasons. The legal formulation of this new lawsuit explains the reasons.
Roger C. S. Lin
| December 29th, 2007 at 4:08 pm #
The military occupation of Taiwan began after the Japanese surrender ceremonies on Oct. 25, 1945. Although most people don’t realize it, the United States is the principal occupying power. The Republic of China military forces are only a subordinate occupying power.
Then in mid-December 1949, the Republic of China moved its central government to Taiwan, thus becoming a government in exile. A more detailed historical summary is given below.
(1) Taiwan was not a part of ROC territory upon the founding of the ROC in (approx.) 1912, moreover
(2) the Allies never recognized any transfer of the sovereignty of Taiwan territory to the ROC (or the PRC) on Oct. 25, 1945, or any date thereafter. In fact,
(3) Oct. 25, 1945 only marked the beginning of the military occupation of Taiwan, and “military occupation does not transfer sovereignty.” (Claims of the acquirement of sovereignty at some later date such as 1987, 1996, 2000, etc. ….. based on the rationale of PRESCRIPTION cannot apply because “military occupation does not transfer sovereignty.”) Importantly,
(4) the procedures for incorporating Taiwan into ROC territory via Article 4 of the ROC Constitution have never been completed,
(5) the United States and other leading nations have never recognized the ROC as “the legitimate civil government of Taiwan.” The ROC exercises territorial control over Taiwan but not sovereignty. Hence, it cannot join the United Nations (under whatever nomenclature).
(6) Taiwan remains as “occupied territory” in the present era — in other words it has not reached a “final political status.” This means that the status of Taiwan is “undetermined,” which again (under international law) means that Taiwan is occupied territory.
(7) ROC/Taiwan is not a state. This is confirmed by the following recent announcements —
(A) In July 2007 the Congressional Research Service (CRS) published a report for the US Congress entitled “Evolution of the One China Policy.” In the Summary at the beginning of that report the following points were made –
(I) The United States did not explicitly state the sovereign status of Taiwan in the three US-PRC Joint Communiques of 1972, 1979, and 1982.
(II) The United States “acknowledged” the “One China” position of both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
(III) US policy has not recognized the PRC’s sovereignty over Taiwan;
(IV) US policy has not recognized Taiwan as a sovereign country; and
(V) US policy has considered Taiwan’s status as undetermined.
(B) Aug. 30, 2007 Dennis Wilder, National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for Asian Affairs said: Taiwan, or the Republic of China, is not at this point a state in the international community. The position of the United States government is that the ROC — Republic of China — is an issue undecided, and it has been left undecided, as you know, for many, many years.