Burkina Faso on Thursday announced that it was severing diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (ROC), and it on Saturday signed a joint communique with China to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The communique reads like a document from the 1950s, stating that there is only “one China” in the world, the PRC is the only legitimate government of the whole of China and Taiwan is part of China. It feels like China is still stuck in the Chinese Civil War.
However, the PRC is not the only one to blame. The ROC and the Constitution make it much easier to construct this kind of language, as they still claim that the ROC is the government of all of China, including Taiwan.
In the preamble of the last revision of the Constitution, it still says: “To meet the requisites of the nation prior to national unification.”
It also designates Taiwan as the “free area” of the ROC.
The ROC is a straitjacket that keeps Taiwan from developing its full potential as a nation on its own. How can other countries recognize Taiwan as the ROC, with all that that implies, without getting into the discussion of which is the legitimate government of China?
It is about time to dispose of this straitjacket and make Taiwan a real nation, so that other countries in the world can recognize it without getting involved in the never-ending Chinese Civil War.
It will take great effort and time to dispose of the ROC’s name and Constitution, and changing them abruptly might cause huge headaches to all concerned, but at least Taiwan should begin to “deROCize” by using the name “Taiwan” and not “ROC,” by diminishing the symbols of the ROC and increasing the visibility of the symbols of Taiwan, and by stopping to say that Taiwan is the ROC and the ROC is Taiwan.
Let people get used to Taiwan and let the ROC fade away, paving the way for a national referendum on a new Taiwanese Constitution.
The only country that can apply counterpressure against China’s moves is the US. It is also an opportunity — and excuse — to increase pressure on China for other reasons, such as trade, North Korea or the South China Sea, by raising the level at which Taiwan-US relations are conducted.
The US could send high-level officials to open the American Institute in Taiwan’s new office, invite Taiwan to participate in the US Navy’s yearly Rim of the Pacific Exercise, go ahead with US port calls in Taiwan and even visit Itu Aba (Taiping Island, 太平島)for oceanic research, perhaps.
Taiwan by itself can do very little to overcome the diplomatic challenge as long as it keeps the ROC’s name and Constitution, but as President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has said, Taiwan must work harder to strengthen non-diplomatic relations with other countries.
Taiwan does not need to be diplomatically recognized as the ROC and I do not mourn the loss of recognition by these small countries.
Why is it important to have these countries diplomatically recognizing the ROC? I have not seen a good explanation from anyone yet, because no one can explain what the ROC is in the real world at this time.
Sebo Koh is a former chairman of World United Formosans for Independence, USA and a former publisher of the US-based Taiwan Tribune.
US President Donald Trump has gotten off to a head-spinning start in his foreign policy. He has pressured Denmark to cede Greenland to the United States, threatened to take over the Panama Canal, urged Canada to become the 51st US state, unilaterally renamed the Gulf of Mexico to “the Gulf of America” and announced plans for the United States to annex and administer Gaza. He has imposed and then suspended 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico for their roles in the flow of fentanyl into the United States, while at the same time increasing tariffs on China by 10
As an American living in Taiwan, I have to confess how impressed I have been over the years by the Chinese Communist Party’s wholehearted embrace of high-speed rail and electric vehicles, and this at a time when my own democratic country has chosen a leader openly committed to doing everything in his power to put obstacles in the way of sustainable energy across the board — and democracy to boot. It really does make me wonder: “Are those of us right who hold that democracy is the right way to go?” Has Taiwan made the wrong choice? Many in China obviously
US President Donald Trump last week announced plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on eight countries. As Taiwan, a key hub for semiconductor manufacturing, is among them, the policy would significantly affect the country. In response, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) dispatched two officials to the US for negotiations, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) board of directors convened its first-ever meeting in the US. Those developments highlight how the US’ unstable trade policies are posing a growing threat to Taiwan. Can the US truly gain an advantage in chip manufacturing by reversing trade liberalization? Is it realistic to
About 6.1 million couples tied the knot last year, down from 7.28 million in 2023 — a drop of more than 20 percent, data from the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs showed. That is more serious than the precipitous drop of 12.2 percent in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the saying goes, a single leaf reveals an entire autumn. The decline in marriages reveals problems in China’s economic development, painting a dismal picture of the nation’s future. A giant question mark hangs over economic data that Beijing releases due to a lack of clarity, freedom of the press
RSS