Support Taiwan’s Bid to Join the UN under the Name “Taiwan”!

According to a poll commissioned by the Institute for National Policy Research (Taiwan) that was released on June 23, nearly 88% of respondents agreed that as an independent and sovereign state, there’s no need for Taiwan to have China’s approval to join any international organization, while 77 % said that China's continual efforts to block Taiwan will only deteriorate cross-strait relations further. This survey also showed that over 57% of respondents agreed the best way to overcome the UN problem is to increase Taiwan NGOs’ participation on an international level, while 43% thought that Taiwan should strengthen ties with those powerful countries or entities like the U.S., Japan, and the EU. Moreover, 71.3% of respondents supported the government’s bid to join the UN under the designation “Taiwan.”

The results of this survey indeed demonstrate the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan. They also indicated that regardless which political party those respondents support, most of the Taiwanese still feel upset by China’s action against Taiwan in the international arena. Although it’s a pity that the U.S. government is “indirectly” against Taiwan’s plan for holding a referendum on UN membership by stating that the U.S. will be opposed to any unilateral moves to change the Taiwan Strait’s status-quo, the majority of the Taiwan public still want to tell the world, “Taiwan is not a part of China!”

The U.S. is considered to be the strongest “democracy promoter”; however, it keeps criticizing Taiwan’s efforts to become a more open, democratic society. We strongly agree with what our Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-way said, “The US does not have the right to tell Taiwan whether it can hold a referendum on joining the UN under the name Taiwan….; A referendum is a representation of democracy; it is also the bottom line for maintaining human rights in Taiwan.”

Certainly, there is no doubt that Taiwan’s sovereignty comes from our own people’s acknowledgement, and the people in Taiwan also have the right and freedom to play a large role in international community, since we share the value of democracy and human rights. If a country—especially a democratic country—criticizes our democratic choice, it will just simply reveal its hypocrisy.