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Taiwan continuing to
play the name game
By Serena Su
The World Health Assembly held its annual meeting in Geneva this week. It was a
major meeting of international health ministers, representing the member states
of the WHO. Because of Chinese obstruction and bullying, Taiwan¡¦s health
minister was able to attend the meeting only as an ¡§observer.¡¨
In September 2010, a confidential internal memo became public, in which the WHO
instructed its staff to refer to Taiwan as a ¡§province of China.¡¨ Regrettably,
in spite of President Ma Ying-jeou¡¦s (°¨^¤E) policy of accommodation with China,
Taiwan is still being politically isolated and treated as a nonentity, or worse.
China is going to incredible lengths in its attempts to push Taiwan into a
corner: In a nebulous UN subcommittee, it got the UN to refer to Taiwan as
¡§Taiwan, Province of China,¡¨ so now the International Standards Organization in
Geneva lists Taiwan as such, with the result that in drop-down menus in
computers all over the world, Taiwan-born people who want to list Taiwan as
their birthplace are suddenly confronted with the unpleasant dilemma of having
to note ¡§Province of China¡¨ as their birthplace.
Fortunately ¡X when organizations like the California voter registration system
or the Boston Athletic Association, which listed ¡§Taiwan, Province of China¡¨ in
their drop-down menu for the registration of voters ¡X were notified of the
erroneous designation, they rectified it right away.
Another silly designation, mainly used in the sports world, is Chinese Taipei.
China only allows Taiwan to use this name when it enters international
competitions, such as the Olympics, the World Baseball Classic series and the
FIFA World Cup. Why can¡¦t Taiwan be simply called ¡§Taiwan¡¨ so we can start
moving toward normal relations with other countries?
Since the early 1990s, when Taiwan made its momentous transition to democracy
under former president Lee Teng-hui (§õµn½÷), it has been a free and democratic
nation in which the government simply represents the people of the nation, not
more but also not less.
Somehow, because of Taiwan¡¦s complicated history, the US and other democratic
countries still leave it dangling in diplomatic isolation. There are five
countries that do not have official diplomatic relations with the US: Cuba,
Bhutan, Iran, North Korea and Taiwan. Does Taiwan fit in that picture? Of course
not. So it would be good if the US and western Europe were to adjust their
policies to the new reality of a free and democratic Taiwan and move toward
normalization of relations with Taiwan.
And it would be good to start this process by calling Taiwan by its own name,
¡§Taiwan,¡¨ instead of twisting ourselves into artificial constructs that have no
legal basis or practical relevance.
Taiwan is a highly developed nation that can contribute a lot to the
international community. It is willing and able to be a full and equal member of
the international community. Let us leave the fictions of the past and work
toward a future in which Taiwan can play its role.
Serena Su is a graduate of Purdue University.
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