Taiwan's UN membership

This is a response to the AFP news item from Beijing that appeared on July 25, 1994 issue of The Jakarta Post on page 16 bearing the title China slams Taiwan over UN status.

The AFP dispatch said that on July 24 China expressed its "righteous indignation" at Taiwan's new bid to rejoin the United Nations which it predicted would end in failure.

According to the dispatch, a PRC foreign ministry spokesman said that "the United Nations is an inter-governmental organization made up of sovereign states, Taiwan is a province of China and lacks any qualification to participate in the United Nations or its related activities."

The 21 million people in Taiwan hereby strongly rebut the fallacy in righteous indignation that Taiwan lacks any qualification to participate in the world bodies.

ROC on Taiwan, by every standard, is a fully self-governed and independent nation and is fully qualified to join any international organizations and fulfill its responsibilities. Taiwan has an identifiable population; it has been governed by an effective government (of course not by PRC government); it has been acting independently; it has been controlling a defined territory; and it has been very capable of conducting foreign relations.

Beijing has been trying very hard to create a make-believe impression that China is already united and that Republic of China on Taiwan does not exist. It has compelled the international community to rebuff and ostracize Taiwan. Despite all the attempts, Taiwan still enjoys formal diplomatic relations with 29 countries and has more than 90 consulates-general or representative offices in other countries.

Taiwan currently is a member of the Asian Development Bank, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, the Pacific Basin Economic Council, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, as well as the International and Asian Olympic Associations. Its participation in the United Nations is the natural and logical next step.

When the UN permitted the PRC to take over China's seat from the ROC in 1971, the rationale it gave was that the Chinese mainland was controlled by the PRC government and the ROC government no longer exercised over the area. This same issue confronts the United Nations today, and the same rationale for the ROC's entry into the UN applies to the ROC on Taiwan. This is a unique instance in the history of modern international politics. Conventional international law does not provide resolutions to such issue. It requires political wisdom and moral courage from all countries to face this reality.

PRC and ROC on Taiwan have maintained their respective existence, without submitting to the other, for almost half a century. Taiwan gave up its fictitious contention that it represents all China three years ago. But the PRC still retains their fictitious contention that they represent the entire China. Clearly, two separate ruling authorities exist on Chinese territory: one the PRC; one the ROC. It is time the PRC woke up to this reality, as the ROC did. The members of the international community have no reasons or obligation to be dictated to by the PRC's illusion any longer.

The membership precedent set by former East and West Germany as well as by North and South Korea, which all joined the United Nations, is sufficient proof that membership in the UN does not impede the unification of a nation, nor imply international endorsement for its permanent split. The ROC on Taiwan has no intention to challenge the existing rights and privileges of the PRC in the United Nations.

DAVID Y.S. TZOU

Director

Information Service

Taipei Economic

and Trade Office

Jakarta