Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum on joining the UN under the name of "Taiwan" has challenged the US position on Taiwan's status.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Ray Burghardt and AIT Director Stephen Young, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian Affairs Thomas Christensen, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have criticized Taiwan's move.
The US has publicly opposed Taiwan's referendum, saying that Taiwan is unilaterally changing the "status quo," destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait and provoking China. The US opposition is baseless.
First, who defines the "status quo" on each side of the Taiwan Strait?
Second, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) stated clearly during his New Year address that over the past seven years the number of missiles deployed along China's southeast coast aimed at Taiwan has increased fivefold, from 200 to over 1300.
Yet the US has done nothing against the Chinese military buildup against Taiwan -- a unilateral change of the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait, a "status quo" that the US wants Taiwan to unilaterally adhere to.
Chinese military buildup clearly destabilizes the peace across the Taiwan Strait.
Third, who would believe that conducting a referendum on entering the UN, an internal affair about self-determination, is a provocative act to neighboring countries?
A Zogby poll conducted last September concluded that the vast majority (81 percent) of Americans said the US should respect every country's right to UN membership based on the principles of democracy and self-determination.
US opposition to the referendum goes against the basic American principles of democracy and human rights. Washington is in a very awkward position. It is joining hands with China, an authoritarian country, to suppress a democratic state, Taiwan.
This is entirely contrary to the character and tradition of the US, a country that has shed tears and blood to tirelessly promote democracy and liberty around the world.
What the US has done has helped empower the communist Chinese establishment, not stabilize the Taiwan Strait, with an unabashed attempt to deprive the Taiwanese of their constitutional right to hold a referendum, just because the democracy in Taiwan has become a serious threat to the survival of the regime in China.
This will backfire and threaten the stability and peace in the Far East. The national security and interests of the US will be adversely affected as well.
US opposition to Taiwan's referendum on joining the UN is anti-democratic and interferes with Taiwan's internal affairs.
It is time that Washington listens to the US people and adopts a "one China, one Taiwan" policy.
It is time that Washington practices what it has been preaching by siding with a democratic Taiwan, establishing formal US-Taiwan diplomatic relations and supporting Taiwan's entry into the UN.
Gaines C. Ho
McLean, Virginia
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
US President Trump weighed into the state of America’s semiconductor manufacturing when he declared, “They [Taiwan] stole it from us. They took it from us, and I don’t blame them. I give them credit.” At a prior White House event President Trump hosted TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), head of the world’s largest and most advanced chip manufacturer, to announce a commitment to invest US$100 billion in America. The president then shifted his previously critical rhetoric on Taiwan and put off tariffs on its chips. Now we learn that the Trump Administration is conducting a “trade investigation” on semiconductors which
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
RSS