"One China Policy" Further Poisons the Atmosphere across the Taiwan Straits

President George W. Bush once said, “You can’t put democracy and freedom back into a box.”

However, in light of Bush administration’s recent opposition to Taiwan’s referendum vote and membership bid for the United Nations, not only does it seems like the United States is ready to stuff Taiwan’s democracy back into the box, but also help China stuff Taiwan back into the box of “One China Policy.”

The coming of Taiwan’s democratization is to show the importance of self-governance from within and seek international legitimacy and status from without. Holding a referendum vote to join the United Nations is a firm display of the pursuit for those goals.

Unfortunately, Taiwanese people’s pursuit of rights to freedom and happiness has become an unbearable truth to both the United States and the international community. Forbidding Taiwan to join the United Nation, in addition to even demanding that Taiwan become a part of China, is forcing Taiwanese people to give up these sacred rights as international citizens.

Resolution 2758 has never dealt with Taiwan’s international status when it was passed 35 years ago in the United Nations General Assembly. At the time, Taiwan has already displayed democratic representation as a sovereign state through democratic elections. People’s Republic of China has also never ruled Taiwan for one second. This is the truth that the international community is unwilling to face.

However, as China redoubles its diplomatic efforts in recent years, it attempts to create a bigger lie about “One China” and have the United States, along with the rest of the international community, to support it in order to contain Taiwanese democracy within an ever-shrinking box. For example, UN Secretariat General Ban Ki-moon rejected our signature of The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women this late March on the grounds that Taiwan is a part of People’s Republic of China. Under heavy pressure from Beijing, World Organization for Animal Health also passed a resolution at the end of this May to restore the lawful rights of People’s Republic of China as a the sole legal government representing China, including Taiwan. Recent rejection of Taiwan’s application to join the United Nations by Ban Ki-moon is apparently one of those diplomatic suppressions from China.

Clearly, Beijing’s One China Policy is becoming more aggressive. Nonetheless, Taiwan’s democracy is the one weapon to dispel this deception, no matter how much everyone does not want to face the truth. The problem is that unless international community truly wants to shove Taiwan’s democracy and freedom back into the box of One China Policy, sooner or later, all countries including the United States must face the fact that Taiwan is a sovereign state. Just like global warming, this is a truth that one must confront one way or the other.