Hung-mao Tien, Taiwan Representative to the UK, urges leaders in Beijing to face the reality of the existence of Taiwan and cooperate with Taiwan to find a peaceful solution for the conflict across the Taiwan Straits. When Dr. Tien was asked by a BBC reporter to clarify the so called “one country on each side”, he said that President Chen Shui-bian was just stating the facts—that one side is governed by the PRC (China) and the other side by the ROC (Taiwan).
When asked to comment on Taiwan’s unsuccessful bid to join the United Nations, Dr. Tien expressed his regret that the issue of Taiwan’s representation failed to be included in the UN agenda this September. However, this issue has attracted more international attention; the time spent debating the issue has increased, and the number of countries involved in the debate has also increased. This has been the case especially since last year when the United States stopped publicly opposing Taiwan’s bid. In addition, although not supportive of Taiwan’s bid to join the UN, France and the UK have welcomed Taiwan’s democratization and have urged that the conflict across the Taiwan Strait be resolved peacefully.
Dr. Tien also said that he understands that Taiwan’s bid to join the UN would inevitably upset Beijing. Therefore he hopes that the two governments can resume political dialogue without any pre-conditions. He pointed out that Taiwan is a full democracy. The government has a responsibility to operate according to the public will. The Taiwanese people have spoken up about their wishes to join the UN and therefore, the government has no choice but to continue her efforts to bid for UN membership.
Dr. Tien concluded that the Taiwanese do not blame the setback of the cross- strait relations on the government since the government has actively pursued said international activities. In fact, over the last decade the economic, trade and cultural relations across the straits have significantly improved. It is just the breakdown of political dialogue that gives a negative impression.
Last Update: October 2002
