Taiwan is independent, but its title is changeable, President Chen Shui-bian (
Addressing the subject during a two-hour interview with cable TV channel SET, Chen said Taiwan is an independent sovereign state, regardless of the name used to refer to it.
"This is a fact. But the official name Republic of China [ROC] is changeable," Chen said.
The president was responding to remarks by Dennis Wilder, senior director for East Asian affairs at the National Security Council, that Washington does not support Taiwan's UN membership because "Taiwan, or the Republic of China, is not at this point a state in the international community."
Wilder said the position of the US government is that the status of the ROC "is an undecided issue."
In his interview, Chen said Wilder's remarks showed that the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) plan to push for the country's return to the UN under the name ROC would also fail to win US support.
Saying that China's representation at the UN switched to the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1971, Chen added that if the country were to try to use the name ROC to rejoin the UN, it would be competing with Beijing for the right to represent China -- which would have no chance of success.
By using the name Taiwan to apply to join the UN, the country is seeking membership under a new name, which has nothing to do with changing the country's official designation, Chen said.
Chen said that what he was truly concerned about was that Taiwan might be overtaken by China, or forced into annexation, if the nation failed to protect its sovereignty.
Urging the US government not to adopt a "double standard," Chen said it was injurious of the US, which supported Chiang Kai-shek's (蔣介石) dictatorship, to refuse to support a popularly elected government.
In the process of Taiwan's transition from authoritarianism to democracy, the country is trying to realize the universal values of democracy, freedom, human rights, peace and justice, and it is "totally unreasonable" that Taiwan be subjected to various restrictions in its effort to achieve its goals, Chen said.
Chen said he attached great importance to US concerns about Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum on its bid to join the UN under the name Taiwan.
But Taiwan, he said, has its own set of national interests and values that it cannot compromise on.
It would be an irony if Taiwan were compelled to forsake its pursuit of democratic values, he said.
In an interview with the Hong Kong-based Phoenix Star TV on Monday, US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said the US government opposes Taiwan's plan for a UN membership referendum because Washington views such activity as a move toward a declaration of independence for Taiwan.
Stressing that Taiwan is already an independent sovereign state, Chen said Taiwan need not declare independence.
As referendum is a basic human right, Chen argued that Taiwan should not be required to give up its referendum plan.
"Taiwan's democratic development should not be subject to any unreasonable restrictions. We certainly do not want a caged democracy. With more than 70 percent of Taiwanese backing the quest for a UN seat under the name `Taiwan,' I am not in a position to block a referendum that would allow the voice and aspiration of Taiwanese to be heard by the international community," Chen said.
Responding to criticism by opposition parties regarding his recent three-nation Central American tour to Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua, Chen said that if Taiwan were to abandon all its diplomatic allies for the sake of saving money, it could become another Hong Kong and be annexed by China.
During his tour, Chen promised development aid to the three allies, drawing accusations from the opposition that he was engaging in checkbook diplomacy. Some critics have suggested that Taiwan should abandon its allies to save money.
Describing that suggestion as "narrow-minded," Chen said that Taiwan itself once was a recipient of international aid.
"Since the nartion emerged as an economic powerhouse, we should be more magnanimous and forward-looking in extending a helping hand to other countries in need," he said.
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