國際先鋒論壇報(International Herald Tribune) 及英國「衛報」(The Guardian)分別於7月31日及9月3日刊載黃部長就以台灣名義申請加入聯合國之投書如後：
Insulting and dangerous
The UN secretary general has reinforced the wall of political apartheid that is reining in Taiwan's people
James Huang
Monday September 3, 2007
The Guardian
A little over a month ago Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian, submitted a fresh application for the country's admission to the United Nations. Within days, the UN secretariat answered the request with an outright rejection.
This is now the 15th year in a row that Taiwan has been denied participation in this august global body, an organisation that has pledged to be "open to all ... peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained" in the UN charter.
For many peoples and nations around the world, Taiwan has been an active and willing diplomatic and trading partner. It is the world's 18th-largest economy and the European Union's 10th-largest trading partner, and is well known as a vibrant and liberal democracy. In a rational world it would no doubt be a valuable and indispensable member of this international society. Yet the reality is that it has long been blocked from the UN.
This year Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, took it upon himself to determine that Taiwan's letter of application "could not be received", despite the fact that it was not his decision to make. The United Nations charter and rules grant only the security council and the general assembly the authority to decide on the admission of new members. By returning Taiwan's application letter as he did, the secretary general plainly overstepped the boundaries of his power.
The secretary general defended his decision by citing UN general assembly resolution 2758; he said that this resolution asserts that Taiwan is a part of the People's Republic of China. However, this interpretation is not only improper, but false and dangerous.
It is improper because resolution 2758 does not mention anything about Taiwan - the word "Taiwan" simply does not appear - let alone Taiwan's representation in the UN or the statement that "Taiwan is a part of China". The fact is that Ban Ki-moon is not empowered to exercise this kind of discretion to review or screen UN membership applications based on his own interpretation.
His interpretation is false because it ignores and contradicts the widely recognised fact that Taiwan is a free and independent country that has never been under the rule of the People's Republic of China.
And his interpretation is dangerous because it provides China with a convenient rationale to arbitrarily alter the status quo of Taiwan without the consent of the Taiwanese people.
It is a shared aspiration of the vast majority of the 23 million people of Taiwan to join the United Nations. A recent poll showed that 77% of the Taiwanese people support Taiwan's bid to join the body. They are eager to break away from the international isolation that has been imposed on them for decades.
The UN secretary general's "decision" on Taiwan's application is tantamount to placing an international political apartheid on this beautiful island nation. It is an insult to a people who have been committed to advancing the course of democracy and striving for a dignified way of living. There is absolutely no defensible justification for continuing to deny the Taiwanese people the right to participate in and make a valuable contribution to the global community.
As such, the United Nations should grant due respect to the will of the Taiwanese people by processing Taiwan's application in accordance with relevant rules and process. We urge the UN to pull down the wall of political apartheid against Taiwan.
James Huang is Taiwan's minister of foreign affairs.
(From The Guardian)
What's in a name?
By James Huang and Michael Kau
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
TAIPEI:
The Republic of China has tried, without success, to re-enter the United Nations since 1993. This year marks the first time that it has changed tactics by bidding to join the world body under the name Taiwan.
Why the change in approach? There are a number of reasons. Taiwan has become the European Union's 10th largest trading partner and the world's 14th largest exporter. Moreover, a recent poll on the island showed that 77 percent of respondents support using the name Taiwan to apply for membership in international organizations, including the United Nations. The UN General Assembly is due to consider Taiwan's membership bid in September.
Today, 20 years after the lifting of martial law, the time is right to involve Taiwan in the international community. Ever since President Chiang Ching-kuo proclaimed the end of martial law on July 14, 1987, direct presidential elections have been introduced and the once all-powerful National Assembly disbanded. Political parties are proliferating and Taiwan has become one of the freest countries in Asia. Surely, it is time for the country's international weight to be recognized by supporting its efforts for UN membership.
This is not just a call from the people of Taiwan - senior EU figures are saying it too. Graham Watson, leader of the third largest political grouping in the European Parliament, the ALDE Group, is a particularly vocal supporter, while the Parliament's senior Dutch member, Jules Maaten, has praised Taiwan for "recreating itself as a model of world democracy."
Despite such significant support, Taiwan remains a sort of international orphan. The reason, of course, is China. Beijing expends extraordinary energy on pestering other governments to preserve the strange limbo inhabited by Taiwan, a self-governing island of 23 million that Beijing insists is a wayward province. Whenever Taiwan irks China, its ambassadors appear at foreign ministries worldwide, demanding that Taiwan be rebuked.
An internal EU memorandum sheds light on the way such strong-arm diplomacy works. Prepared by officials working under Javier Solana, the European Union's chief of foreign policy, it describes a recent meeting between the Chinese ambassador to the EU, Guan Chengyuan, and a top Eurocrat. According to EU note-takers, Guan described the referendum that Taiwan plans to hold on UN membership as provocative and destabilizing and said that China wanted EU support, as it did not want to have to use "the last resort" - an apparent reference to its threat to use force, if necessary, to "reunify" Taiwan. China currently has some 1,000 missiles aimed at the island.
Taipei, however, refuses to bow to blatant military intimidation. The main purpose of its new strategy is to increase international understanding of its reasons for applying for UN membership. Taiwan currently ranks as the world's 18th largest economy, the 16th largest trading nation and stands as one of the top 20 sources of foreign investment. Surely, no country which enjoys such economic eminence should be excluded from important matters that influence the development and well being of all humankind.
To avoid creating a weak link in the global network, the United Nations should accept Taiwan as a member. Refusing Taiwan membership would violate the fundamental rights of the country's population. It would also be a clear breach of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that "everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration" and that "no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs."
Only when Taiwan joins the UN can the collective human rights and security of its inhabitants be fully guaranteed.
It has been claimed that applying for UN membership under the name Taiwan will change the status quo. This is not the case. Certain nations at the UN, such as Switzerland and Macedonia, use designations other than their official names. By the same token, as long as we do not change our country's constitutional name, applying for UN membership with the name Taiwan has absolutely nothing to do with the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.
Under current circumstances, it is unlikely that Taiwan's application to be a UN member will succeed at the first attempt, but Taipei must push for participation. As such, our move to apply for membership this year is an important first step.
James Huang is Taiwan's foreign minister. Michael Kau is Taipei's representative to the European Union and Belgium.
(From International Herald Tribune)
