[Page: S13827]
Mr. PELL. Mr. President, on Tuesday Dr. Trong Chai came to Washington as part of a large Taiwanese delegation to the United States seeking support for Taiwanese membership in the United Nations.
I have known Dr. Chai for a great number of years. He was the founder and first president of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs [FAPA], an organization that has long struggled to draw attention to political and economic developments on Taiwan. Dr. Chai's career is testimony to the impressive changes that has occurred in Taiwan.
Four years ago I pressed the Taiwanese Government to permit Dr. Chai, then a professor of political science at the City University of New York, to return to Taiwan. Permission was granted and, after 30 years of exile in the United States, Dr. Chai made the journey back to his homeland. There he formed an organization to press for the international recognition of Taiwan.
Two years later Dr. Chai was elected to the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan's parliament, and this month he became the co-chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations.
In the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to meet with leaders of both the opposition and ruling party in Taiwan. I have been impressed with the unanimity of agreement that exists concerning the issue of Taiwanese membership in the United Nations. The economic success of Taiwan and its emerging democracy have contributed to a rising nationalism in Taiwan. In my view, the nature of Taiwan's success will ultimately bring it the international recognition that it deserves. I am pleased that the Taiwanese leadership is united in its efforts to achieve this goal.
At a luncheon sponsored by the Formosan Association for Public Affairs earlier this week, Dr. Chai presented his views concerning why the United States should support Taiwan's readmission to the United Nations.
I ask unanimous consent that Dr. Chai's speech be included in the Record.
There being no objection, the speech was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
The United States Should Support Taiwan in Joining the United Nations
Today is a day for family reunions in Taiwan. It is the day of Taiwan's Moon Festival, a day when the family in Taiwan lift their heads together and enjoy the full moon. We are here to lower our heads for a moment and think about why there is no international family reunion with Taiwan.
On October 25, 1971, The United Nations, by a vote of 76 to 35, passed GA/RES 2758, recognizing the government of China to be represented in the U.N. With this resolution, the other entity for China represented by Chiang Kai-Shek was deemed illegal and expelled from the U.N. Since then, the people of Taiwan have been shut off from this international organization.
Taiwan is qualified to be a U.N. member. It has scored great economic achievements: a GNP of $220 billion which ranks 20th in the world, a Per Capita Income of $10,500 that ranks 25th, and a foreign trade volume which ranks 13th with a foreign reserve that stands at world's pinnacle. Judging from these records, Taiwan should be admitted to the U.N.
Among the world's 191 nations, only Switzerland, Holy See, Tonga, Nauru, Tuvalu, Kiribati and Taiwan are not U.N. members. Taiwan is the only nation truly left out of the U.N. Switzerland, the perennial neutral nation, never has the intention of becoming a U.N. member. The other five nations, with an aggregate population of no more than 190,000, occupy small, limited areas of land, and are not willing to join the U.N. Taiwan has been willing and able to become a member of the world organization. However, due to political reasons, it has been denied U.N. membership. The denial of representation for 21 million Taiwanese people, who rank 43rd most populous in the world, violates not only moral principles but also human rights.
It has been 23 years since Chiang Kai-Shek's Kuomintang (KMT) was expelled from the U.N. Although the people of Taiwan have incessantly expressed their desire to join that world body during these years, their efforts have thus far been in vain. There are two reasons for the failure:
First, as one of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the People's Republic of China, ignoring the internationally known fact that Taiwan has been independent for forty-five years, still insists that `Taiwan is a part of China' and use this as a reason for denying Taiwan's U.N. membership.
Second, since it retreated to Taiwan in 1949, the KMT government has adhered to the so-called one-China policy, which creates not only great confusion among the international community but also causes Taiwan to linger outside the U.N. door.
Recently, the KMT government wishes to imitate the precedents set by the two Koreas and the two Germanys and hope that parallel representation would be applicable to Taiwan. Thus, the KMT formulates the formula of `One nation, two seats,' by which Taiwan
would be able to join the U.N. along with the People's Republic of China. This approach, however, is unrealistic, doomed to fail.
The reason that all the Koreans and Germans were admitted to the U.N. is that prior to applying for the U.N. membership, both two Koreas and two Germanys had been simultaneously recognized by the international community. In fact, the ground for their admission is based on `two nations, two seats,' not `one nation, two seats.' Since no nation has simultaneously maintained formal diplomatic relations with both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan, there is no chance that Taiwan would be admitted to the U.N. with the idea of `one nation, two seats' and in the name of the `Republic of China.'
To strengthen the humanistic and moral pleas embedded in their endeavor to join the U.N., a plebiscite must first be held. The plebiscite, to determine whether or not the name of `Taiwan' would be used, would not only help Taiwan reach a consensus on the name among its people but also show the world the will and the determination of the people of Taiwan in joining the U.N. When the people of Taiwan, by a huge margin, decide to use the name of `Taiwan,' the world community should give moral support to the people of Taiwan in their application for a new membership.
As a champion of human rights and the leader of the democratic world, the United States has taken political and economic sanctions against those nations that seriously violate human rights. This year, the United States has urged China to improve the human rights situation when granting China the Most Favored Nations status. And now that 21 million Taiwanese people are being denied U.N. membership, the United States should support Taiwan in joining the U.N. on the ground of universality of membership and for the respect of the human dignity of and human rights of the people in Taiwan.
[Page: S13828]
END
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
