Recently the US State Department spoke out in opposition to the referendum on Taiwan's application to the UN under the name "Taiwan."
I am aware of only a few examples in the modern era of a country telling another how to manage its internal democratic processes.
Such dictation has most often come from the former Soviet Union aimed at the states in its sphere of political and military influence in Eastern Europe.
Certainly giving instructions to a state whose population has a higher literacy rate than mine does the image of my country no good. Why, I ask, could not the State Department simply say: "That is an internal matter to be determined by the people of Taiwan according to their democratic processes"?
Given Taiwan's rapid development and democratic status, and the range of states that are UN members but fall far short of Taiwan in size, wealth or freedom, Taiwan's entry into the world body would seem quite appropriate.
The State Department could be more productive by helping to open a way forward, to correct the errors made in the 1970s when Taiwan was rhetorically abolished under the mistaken assumption that ending US recognition would force that country to join China. That did not happen and seems ever more unlikely to happen.
So the US, China and the rest of the world should be looking to the future, and asking how, realistically, to accommodate this resilient state in the world community, rather than denying patent realities while seeking to resuscitate policies of denial that have clearly failed.
Arthur Waldron
Lauder Professor of
International Relations
University of Pennsylvania
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