On July 23, the U.N. Secretariat rejected Taiwan's application for U.N. membership. Four days later, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said "the position of the United Nations is that the People's Republic of China (PRC) represents the whole of China as the sole and legitimate representative government of China . . ." and that "Taiwan is part of China."

Ban seems to have falsely interpreted Resolution 2758. Anyone who examines the resolution closely will come to realize that it neither states that Taiwan is a part of the PRC or China, nor grants China the right to represent Taiwan's 23 million people in the U.N. And only the Security Council and General Assembly have the authority to review and decide on U.N. membership applications. The U.N. Secretariat alone cannot do so.

Resolution 2758 solved the problem of China's representation in 1971, but has by no means solved Taiwan's representation since then. The continued isolation of democratic Taiwan will only encourage and embolden China to take more aggressive actions, thereby spreading instability in the Asia-Pacific region. Political apartheid against Taiwan's peace-loving people has to be lifted. The Taiwanese people hereby urge the U.N. Secretariat to duly process Taiwan's application.

wen-ching chu