At the expense of ruffling feathers in Washington, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is pushing ahead with a national referendum on joining the UN under the name "Taiwan."
Considering the somewhat frayed relationship between President Chen Shui-bian's (
However, the debate has highlighted an area of indecision within the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), which in recent months has been experiencing an identity crisis as it tries to repackage itself as a "localized" party.
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
This criticism is not surprising. However, the KMT has also grown increasingly mute in criticizing the DPP for using "Taiwan" instead of the "Republic of China."
Instead, Ma and certain KMT officials have been throwing around another theory: The national title isn't important when applying to international organizations as long as it gets Taiwan's foot in the door. Despite accusing DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
KMT spokesperson Su Jun-pin (
KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yi (
Meanwhile, Ma on Wednesday seemed equally unconcerned, saying that anything that allows the nation to return to international organizations, including the UN, should be given support. He went on to say that Taiwan should be "flexible" about its title.
He cited the WTO, in which Taiwan has been allowed to participate under the title of the "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu," as well as the International Olympic Committee, in which Taiwan has the title of "Chinese Taipei," as examples of Taiwan gaining membership through flexibility.
But Taiwan's title in these organizations does matter. It is not a trivial detail that can be brushed aside. Ma's willingness to accept any degrading and misleading name is misguided. His assertion that any name must respect Taiwan's dignity is at odds with his acceptance of any ludicrous title.
Gaining entry into every B-grade organization under an array of ridiculous names does little to assert sovereignty. Taiwan is better served by not participating in an organization rather than participating under a silly name. Taiwan, after all, is not merely a "customs territory."
While applying to international agencies under the name "Taiwan" does not usually meet with success -- as demonstrated by its WHO bid this spring -- it is important for Taiwan to maintain a standard.
And it is better to be rejected by the UN when applying as "Taiwan" than to be accepted under a name not befitting a sovereign nation.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
The military is conducting its annual Han Kuang exercises in phases. The minister of national defense recently said that this year’s scenarios would simulate defending the nation against possible actions the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) might take in an invasion of Taiwan, making the threat of a speculated Chinese invasion in 2027 a heated agenda item again. That year, also referred to as the “Davidson window,” is named after then-US Indo-Pacific Command Admiral Philip Davidson, who in 2021 warned that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. Xi in 2017