Advocates of formal Taiwan independence say a recent statement from a U.S. legislative group supporting Taiwan’s global participation presents an opportunity to reconsider Taiwan’s relationship with the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan’s official country name.
The statement released in Washington on Tuesday by the co-chairs of the U.S. Congressional Taiwan Caucus calls for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. It also rejects the use of United Nations Resolution 2758 to block Taiwan’s participation at the U.N General Assembly, which begins its 2023 general debate on September 13. The statement mentions the House-passed Taiwan International Solidarity Act. The act states that Resolution 2758 “did not address the issue of representation of Taiwan and its people in the United Nations or any related organizations.”
In response to the statement, Taiwan independence groups World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI) and Taiwan National Security Institute held a press conference on Wednesday.
At the conference, international law expert and professor at Tamkang University Hsu Ching-hsiung (許慶雄) said that the statement highlights a problem faced by countries supporting Taiwan. While the U.S. is careful not to agree to China’s sovereignty over Taiwan, the status quo of the ROC makes it difficult for other countries to recognize Taiwan. Hsu adds that if Taiwan continues to support the status quo and wave the ROC flag, they will never escape what he calls the “China trap”.
WUFI chairman Richard Chen (陳南天) says that President Tsai Ing-Wen (蔡英文) and her potential successor Lai Ching-te (賴清德) occasionally refer to Taiwan using the name ROC (Taiwan). However, Chen says that ROC (Taiwan) is a fictitious political identity that has not been established by any legal process. Chen called on current and future governments to be brave and, with international support, use only Taiwan as the country’s name and begin creating a Taiwan constitution.
Secretary-general of the pro-independence Taiwan Statebuilding Party Wang Hsing-huan (王興煥) also spoke at the conference. He says that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has rejected the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and clung to the mantle of ROC. Despite this, the DPP has not been able to liberate Taiwan from the civil war between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He says Taiwan should accelerate when international sentiment is favorable, reject the ROC, and create its own path to nationhood.