Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) representative to the US Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) made an impassioned plea for Taiwan independence at a Thanksgiving banquet in the US on Saturday.
Echoing the words of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr, he said that he had “a dream” that Taiwan would be regarded as an equal by the international community.
Wu said that even though Taiwan is a democracy it still suffers from segregation and international discrimination and has not been able to join international organizations such as the UN.
“We participate in organizations under the name ‘Taiwan, Province of China’ or ‘Chinese Taipei,’” he said.
“This is not the right way for Taiwan to participate — Taiwanese should have the same rights as people in any other country,” he added.
“I have a dream. It is that Taiwan will be regarded as an equal by the international community. That Taiwan will participate in the United Nations and all other international organizations just as other countries do,” he said.
Wu was addressing the annual Thanksgiving Banquet of the Taiwanese Association of America — Greater Washington Chapter, which was attended by about 400 Taiwanese Americans.
“I have a dream that Taiwan will be regarded by the international community not as a part of another country, but as a country by itself,” he added.
Speaking with great passion, Wu said that the Taiwanese government exercised exclusive jurisdiction over the territory under its control and therefore Taiwan had the same rights as any other country.
“I have a dream we can use our national flag and our national title and our national anthem and not attract opposition,” he said.
“I don’t want to wake up one morning to find our name has been changed to Taiwan, province of China,” Wu said.
“This is an agony that you and I have to go through and no one else — no other country has this agony,” he said. “We share the same dream that one day we don’t have to face this situation any more.
“I want to see the day when the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations and the Taiwan ambassador to the United Nations can go down the aisle of the General Assembly and say to each other: ‘Let us help those less fortunate countries,’” he said. “Taiwan has a role and a rightful place on the international stage.”
Wu said that polls showed the majority of Taiwanese do not want to be part of another country.
“We need to work with the United States in a way that will bring our dream closer,” he said.
Wu said that Taiwan’s democracy was not perfect and there was a problem with fairness between the two major political parties — the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the DPP.
“The KMT is still the wealthiest political party on the face of the earth,” he said.
By comparison, he said, the DPP was miserable and poverty-stricken.
The DPP’s budget was about one-ninth of the amount collected each year by the KMT in share dividends, he said.
Such a huge disparity in wealth made it very difficult for the DPP to compete in elections.
On the economic front he said that the gap between the rich and the poor in Taiwan was growing while high unemployment and low starting salaries were making life very difficult for young people.
“Young men dare not get married, they dare not have children,” he said. “A generation of young people seem to be lost.”
Wu said that Taiwanese “felt pain at not being afforded full international participation.”
He said that Taiwan was not part of China.
“We struggle to make the international community see that Taiwan should not be represented by China,” he said. “Taiwan is de facto independent. Taiwan is regarded by the law of the US as a real country even though there is no diplomatic recognition.”
He said that Taiwan could serve as an example to Asian governments — “If Taiwan can be democratic, they can be democratic too.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as