Minze Chien (簡明子), President of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs and a longtime advocate for Taiwan independence based in Washington, says Taiwanese people must establish their own country, and that “staying put” will not prevent a Chinese invasion.
Chien became a member of FAPA in 1994, and has served in a number of leadership roles for the group including as president. He says FAPA’s goal is to establish official diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Taiwan, and to push in every possible way to make that a reality.
Short of a full diplomatic recognition, FAPA aims to make incremental changes to U.S. policy which move it closer to treating Taiwan in the same way as other countries.
Chien says the U.S. should go further and invite Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to visit Washington before the end of her term. He says the U.S. government should treat the Taiwan president the same way as they would treat leaders of any other country. He also hopes that Vice President and 2024 presidential hopeful Lai Ching-te (賴清德) will be invited and treated to an official reception on Capitol Hill.
Chien says FAPA aims to have AIT directors confirmed by the U.S. Senate using the same procedure as other U.S. ambassadors, which would put them on equal footing. Likewise, Chien says that any bilateral free-trade agreement between the two countries should also be ratified by the Senate, as any normal treaty between two countries would be.
Another change Chien hopes to make is to change the name of Taiwan’s unofficial embassy in the U.S. The current name of the office is the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, which takes its name from Taipei’s capital city while omitting the island’s name. Chien finds this name to be a concession to Beijing’s one-China principle, and wants to change the name to the Taiwan Representative Office.
Chien says that although full Taiwan independence does not have majority support in Taiwan, he believes that Taiwanese people must realize that “there is no way out.”