BEIJING — The 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly openson Tuesday, and 45 members of the Taiwan United Nations Alliance areheading to New York and other cities in the United States, including Washington, Boston and Philadelphia, to make the case for Taiwan’s representation in the world body.
The Republic of China, on Taiwan, lost the China seat in the United Nations to the People’s Republic of China, on the mainland, in 1971. Since then, Beijing, which claims Taiwan as Chinese territory separated by civil war in the 1940s, has mostly blocked the island’s attempts to join international organizations. Taiwan did compete in the recent Olympics, but as “Chinese Taipei.”
This is the 13th time that the alliance, a civic organization founded in 2003, has run a campaign for Taiwan’s return to the United Nations, but the first time since President Tsai Ing-wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally favored Taiwan’s formal independence from China, took office. The new foreign minister, David Lee, said last month that his government would not pursue United Nations membership, while continuing to press for “meaningful participation” in United Nations-affiliated agencies. Still, the alliance’s president, Michael Tsai, said that, after eight years of Ma Ying-jeou, the former president and a Kuomintang member, who pursued more conciliatory relations with China, the time is right for a new push for Taiwan’s full participation in global affairs. In an interview, Mr. Tsai, who is also a former D.P.P. legislator and defense minister, discussed the alliance’s plans.
What’s on your agenda for this year’s campaign?
We will visit the U.S. Congress and meet several representatives of United Nations members, including countries that have diplomatic relations with Taiwan and have been speaking for us in the U.N. General Assembly in past years. We also plan interviews with media and meetings with NGOs, academics and think tanks. We are sending a letter to Ban Ki-moon [the United Nations secretary general], and we’ve arranged a meeting with Randall Schriver, former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state.
We’ll be joined by a chorus that will perform in the cities where we’ll be holding public demonstrations, to let the world know that the Taiwanese people want their voice to be heard.
Also making our campaign different this year is that it’s the first one since the Democratic Progressive Party returned to power. Right now, the calls from civic groups and Taiwanese society to join the U.N. are strong.
What do you hope to achieve?
We just want the world to hear our voice, and to understand the reasons we want to, and why we should, join the U.N. The United Nations was founded to give people from all over the world an opportunity to participate in international affairs, and to promote regional security and cooperation on different fronts. The Taiwanese people also want to participate in these international affairs and decide their own fate.
Since 1996, Taiwan has elected four presidents by democratic means. Taiwan has 23 million people, a territory of 36,000 square kilometers [nearly 14,000 square miles] and a government. Taiwan meets all the requirements of nationhood. The wish to join the United Nations is shared by Taiwanese people from different political parties and different backgrounds. We want the world to know that Taiwan also wants to contribute to the world.
What do you think of Taiwan’s current status?
Taiwan used “Chinese Taipei” as its name in both this year’s World Health Assembly [the decision-making body of the World Health Organization] and the Olympic Games. Taiwan is just Taiwan, not “Chinese Taipei,” a thing that has no real existence anywhere in the world. That’s just a name Taiwan has used under pressure from China. It’s unfair to 23 million Taiwanese people if we can’t use our own name, our own national anthem or our own national flag in international events.
I hope that one day Taiwan and China will be two friendly countries that can cooperate in business and trade, and work together on security, prosperity and development in the Asia-Pacific region. If China opposes Taiwan’s pursuit of U.N. membership, that’s just China’s position. It’s not a global principle that everybody else has to comply with. China has not ruled Taiwan since 1949. We hope that one day the Chinese government and the Chinese people will be able to respect the opinions of Taiwan’s people.
What challenges do you face?
We have to accept the reality that we face a great deal of pressure from China, so our goal can’t be reached in one or two years. China is also the reason for Tsai Ing-wen’s conservatism on this issue. But we still need to go out every year to make our voices heard.
We should learn from Palestine, taking action every year until we finally achieve it. We hope our efforts will eventually move other countries, as well as Chinese government.
Ms. Tsai’s government has said it will not pursue U.N. membership. Did that disappoint you?
I appreciate that the government has to consider all possible consequences of any action it takes. It must think not pursuing this this year is the right decision. Tsai Ing-wen’s government is cautious about promoting Taiwan’s U.N. membership, because Tsai Ing-wen doesn’t want to provoke China.
But Ms. Tsai does encourage civic groups’ efforts. I hope Ms. Tsai will talk with Ban Ki-moon as Taiwan’s president to express the Taiwan people’s wish to join the United Nations, as [former President] Chen Shui-bian did in 2007. Ms. Tsai has said she would maintain the status quo. I personally think that’s acceptable for now, because the status quo includes peace and stability, preserving Taiwan’s democracy and freedom as well.
How will you proceed without the cooperation of the government?
I can only say we’ll try our best. Without the government’s cooperation, we will have to be even stronger. In the past few years, through the hard work of civic groups, we have achieved a few things, such as Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly and the assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization. I hope Tsai Ing-wen’s government will be more active in promoting Taiwan’s membership in the United Nations and in other international organizations and events in the next few years. Taiwan is a democratic country, and the government should heed public opinion and base its policies on that.
