In my column last week, I wrote that the Chinese entertainment market cannot be separated from the songs of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Not only that, but the entire range of Taiwan’s cultural creativity and intellectual products are in great demand in China.
However, the Chinese government understands perfectly well that it cannot tame writers and scholars the way it can tame singers, so it is impossible to let these products in and make the Chinese dependent on them, let alone the democratic freedoms that are most scarce in China. So Taiwan chose to show the international community how wonderful and accomplished it is, and wanted to participate more in international organizations. In particular, in 2020, Taiwan’s fight against the new crown epidemic achieved global prominence and seemed to be one step closer to the United Nations, the World health Organization and others.
Last January, the day after Taiwan confirmed the discovery of its first case of New Crown pneumonia, President Tsai Ing-wen called on China to make the outbreak open and transparent, saying that Taiwan should not be excluded from the WHO and that “there should be room for Taiwan’s participation in the WHO.”
Those who know the history are more familiar with this scenario. Back in late 2002, after the SARS crisis broke out, the Chen Shui-bian government claimed that the ROC’s inability to grasp information on the epidemic in the first place led to the spread of SARS in Taiwan. The Republic of China unsuccessfully applied to become a WHO observer in the name of Taiwan’s health authorities.
After 17 years of suffering another outbreak from China, Taiwan’s image changed from that of a poor victim to that of a successful hero in the fight against the epidemic, hoping to at least participate in the WHO. The United States, Japan, the European Union and others took the position that Taiwan should not be excluded from participation in discussions on WHO-related issues. As a result, instead of allowing Taiwan to participate, the WHO blocked all messages about Taiwan in English and Chinese on its Facebook live page.
In September, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Krafft had a dinner meeting with the Director of Taiwan’s Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, Lee Kwang-chang. This was the first time a senior Taiwanese official met with the U.S. ambassador to the UN. After the meeting, Craft told the media that the 24 million people of Taiwan need to be heard and that they should be able to participate in UN affairs just like everyone else. She asserted that the United States is indeed pushing for Taiwan’s return to the UN.
Needless to say, these efforts are worth nothing more than protests and shouting. As long as there is no change in China, Taiwan cannot return to the UN and its affiliated agencies, no matter what reasons are used.
On the surface, most international organizations are built on a system of sovereign states, and the reason for rejecting Taiwan is the one-China principle. In fact, behind this reason is political and economic corruption under the control of China.
We will not forget WHO Director-General Tan Desai saying after meeting with Xi Jinping last January, “I would like to commend China again and again for its actions that have really helped to reduce the spread of the new crown virus to other countries.” One year on, with more than 83 million confirmed cases and nearly 1.84 million deaths worldwide, has anyone bothered to ask what his “repeated praise” means?
It has been a year since the virus struck and the Chinese government still does not allow international experts to investigate the outbreak in Wuhan, China, where it originated. This is undoubtedly a crime against the survival of humanity, and the WHO is duty-bound to condemn it loudly. Sadly, Tan Desai has repeatedly lied and flattered the Chinese Communist Party. Whether or not there is evidence of a financial deal between Tan and the CCP, these words and actions are themselves a form of political corruption.
Serious corruption in international organizations
In 2015, former UN General Assembly President John Ashe was suspected of accepting money from several Chinese businessmen. Ashe was indicted for allegedly accepting bribes from various Chinese businessmen. He accepted as much as $1.3 million in bribes from Chinese real estate developer Wu Lixing alone. The money allowed him to use his position to push for the construction of a UN conference center in Macau, which was built by Wu Lixiang’s company.
The corruption cases exposed by these international institutions are just the tip of the iceberg. The reason is also simple: they have long had power without oversight, and no one has bothered to hold them accountable. As a result, it is easy for the Chinese Communist Party to manipulate these institutions. It may be more difficult for Taiwan to join these institutions than to declare independence on its own. In other words, if Taiwan were to become independent one day, the UN would not recognize it for the time being, and the WHO would probably block Taiwan even more severely.
What would be the point of such an international organization, even if Taiwan could join it? Why jump in when it is fortunate to be excluded from the filthy saucepan?
So, how can Taiwan be included in the international arena and fulfill its international responsibilities?
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