Knocking on the U.N. door again

Well, that makes sense. The electorate turned down two referendums on the U.N. issue last March 20. Voters turned out in droves to elect President Ma Ying-jeou on that day, but more than half boycotted the referendums over whether their country should join the international body as Taiwan or the Republic of China. So the question of names is out of the question.

But how Taiwan should participate is a real question. That’s why Taipei is in close contact with Washington to come up with a scheme to join the United Nations, perhaps through the back door. The Americans, however, can’t help. Long gone are the days when the United States could dictate to the United Nations, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt created single-handedly to replace the defunct League of Nations. Uncle Sam can’t even dominate that world body, from which Taiwan was ousted in 1971. The very truth is that whatever or however Taiwan may try to knock at the door of the United Nations, that door is slammed shut unless Taipei can get Beijing to say “Open sesame.”

The Waichiaopu knows it full well. However, it has to try — if not, it loses its raison d’etre. Any attempt is simply an exercise in futility.

President Ma Ying-jeou wants a “diplomatic truce” between Taiwan and China. With that truce in place, Taiwan would be able to join or participate in the United Nations. Foreign Minister Francisco Ou should do what he can to put an end to the diplomatic war with China, which Taiwan is losing, and there is no chance whatsoever the tide can be turned. The trouble is that Taipei wants to save face at the expense of pragmatism, to which it pays only lip service.

If Ma is truly pragmatic as he claims to be, he shouldn’t have made a grand state visit to Latin America while Beijing was hosting the Olympic Games. There’s no reason why he should attend the inaugural ceremony of a president in person, while the diplomatic tour is regarded in China as an unnecessary assertion of Taiwan’s sovereignty and a serious challenge to Beijing’s assertion that the island is a province or integral part of the People’s Republic. It isn’t conducive to the detente needed for dialogue across the Taiwan Strait that will put an end the losing diplomatic war.

As a matter of fact, Taipei should talk with Beijing, not with Washington, to find out what it can do to join or participate in the United Nations. With a nod from Beijing, that world organization will gladly admit Taiwan right away.

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