The World Health Assembly held its annual meeting in Geneva this week. It was a major meeting of international health ministers, representing the member states of the WHO. Because of Chinese obstruction and bullying, Taiwan’s health minister was able to attend the meeting only as an “observer.”
In September 2010, a confidential internal memo became public, in which the WHO instructed its staff to refer to Taiwan as a “province of China.” Regrettably, in spite of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policy of accommodation with China, Taiwan is still being politically isolated and treated as a nonentity, or worse.
China is going to incredible lengths in its attempts to push Taiwan into a corner: In a nebulous UN subcommittee, it got the UN to refer to Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China,” so now the International Standards Organization in Geneva lists Taiwan as such, with the result that in drop-down menus in computers all over the world, Taiwan-born people who want to list Taiwan as their birthplace are suddenly confronted with the unpleasant dilemma of having to note “Province of China” as their birthplace.
Fortunately — when organizations like the California voter registration system or the Boston Athletic Association, which listed “Taiwan, Province of China” in their drop-down menu for the registration of voters — were notified of the erroneous designation, they rectified it right away.
Another silly designation, mainly used in the sports world, is Chinese Taipei. China only allows Taiwan to use this name when it enters international competitions, such as the Olympics, the World Baseball Classic series and the FIFA World Cup. Why can’t Taiwan be simply called “Taiwan” so we can start moving toward normal relations with other countries?
Since the early 1990s, when Taiwan made its momentous transition to democracy under former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), it has been a free and democratic nation in which the government simply represents the people of the nation, not more but also not less.
Somehow, because of Taiwan’s complicated history, the US and other democratic countries still leave it dangling in diplomatic isolation. There are five countries that do not have official diplomatic relations with the US: Cuba, Bhutan, Iran, North Korea and Taiwan. Does Taiwan fit in that picture? Of course not. So it would be good if the US and western Europe were to adjust their policies to the new reality of a free and democratic Taiwan and move toward normalization of relations with Taiwan.
And it would be good to start this process by calling Taiwan by its own name, “Taiwan,” instead of twisting ourselves into artificial constructs that have no legal basis or practical relevance.
Taiwan is a highly developed nation that can contribute a lot to the international community. It is willing and able to be a full and equal member of the international community. Let us leave the fictions of the past and work toward a future in which Taiwan can play its role.
Serena Su is a graduate of Purdue University.
I came to Taiwan to pursue my degree thinking that Taiwanese are “friendly,” but I was welcomed by Taiwanese classmates laughing at my friend’s name, Maria (瑪莉亞). At the time, I could not understand why they were mocking the name of Jesus’ mother. Later, I learned that “Maria” had become a stereotype — a shorthand for Filipino migrant workers. That was because many Filipino women in Taiwan, especially those who became house helpers, happen to have that name. With the rapidly increasing number of foreigners coming to Taiwan to work or study, more Taiwanese are interacting, socializing and forming relationships with
Whether in terms of market commonality or resource similarity, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co is the biggest competitor of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC). The two companies have agreed to set up factories in the US and are also recipients of subsidies from the US CHIPS and Science Act, which was signed into law by former US president Joe Biden. However, changes in the market competitiveness of the two companies clearly reveal the context behind TSMC’s investments in the US. As US semiconductor giant Intel Corp has faced continuous delays developing its advanced processes, the world’s two major wafer foundries, TSMC and
The recent termination of Tibetan-language broadcasts by Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) is a significant setback for Tibetans both in Tibet and across the global diaspora. The broadcasts have long served as a vital lifeline, providing uncensored news, cultural preservation and a sense of connection for a community often isolated by geopolitical realities. For Tibetans living under Chinese rule, access to independent information is severely restricted. The Chinese government tightly controls media and censors content that challenges its narrative. VOA and RFA broadcasts have been among the few sources of uncensored news available to Tibetans, offering insights
We are witnessing a sea change in the government’s approach to China, from one of reasonable, low-key reluctance at rocking the boat to a collapse of pretense over and patience in Beijing’s willful intransigence. Finally, we are seeing a more common sense approach in the face of active shows of hostility from a foreign power. According to Article 2 of the 2020 Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法), a “foreign hostile force” is defined as “countries, political entities or groups that are at war with or are engaged in a military standoff with the Republic of China [ROC]. The same stipulation applies to
RSS