Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu led thousands of supporters in an 11-day around-the-island torch relay to demonstrate their desire for the country to join the UN. (October 2007)

By Steven McShane

Politics can be a nasty business, especially where international affairs are concerned. Yet, as President Roosevelt once sagely reminded us, the fundamental purpose of all politics should be to increase the quality of life of people everywhere.

For many years now, the 23 million hard-working, peace-loving people of Taiwan have petitioned, with both great persistence and great patience, to become a rightful member of the United Nations. Their efforts in this just cause have been thwarted by the prevailing short-sightedness of today’s international politics.

Taiwan has earned the right to be a member of the United Nations. In the years after the devastation of World War II, the people of Taiwan struggled mightily to lift themselves up out of poverty. The inspiring story of their rapid progress became known as the “Taiwan Miracle.” Eventually, the island became one of the legendary “Asian Tigers,” along with Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong. Over the last 30 years, Taiwan’s growth in GDP has averaged an astonishing eight percent annually. Last year, Taiwan was the 16th largest trading nation, with its trade sector outperforming that of 90 percent of the world’s nations.

Just as the Taiwan people have toiled to build their economy into a renowned economic powerhouse, they have also focused simultaneously on improving their educational standards. Taiwan today has more than 100 institutions of higher learning, and each year over 100,000 students take their college entrance exams. What’s more, some 54 percent of college students are female - the highest rate of female college enrollment in Asia and even higher than the rates in Germany, Japan and the UK. For those who want to further their studies overseas, the US is the favorite choice with more than 13,000 Taiwan students attending American universities each year.

More than merely free compared to neighboring countries in Asia, Taiwan possesses one of the most democratic societies in the world. Like all free, open and democratic societies, Taiwan boasts universal suffrage, active political parties, regular elections and a free press.

For decades Taiwan has watched the People’s Republic of China (PRC) pressure the UN Security Council to reject Taiwan’s application for membership. This year however, the government of Taiwan applied for admittance into the United Nations under the name “Taiwan” instead of the confusing designation, “Republic of China.” In March of 2008 there will be a national referendum in Taiwan concerning whether the government should continue to place for full UN membership using the name, “Taiwan.”

There are those who believe that the planned referendum may dangerously upset China’s communist party. What the ongoing controversy surrounding Taiwan’s UN referendum highlights, is that doing the right thing is not always easy. Yet, as the words of Teddy Roosevelt remind us, to shoulder the burden of “the politics of decency” is a constant moral imperative.

For more than half a century, Taiwan has been a loyal and steadfast ally, as well as a close trading partner of the United States. It is only natural, then, that the people of the United States would stand with the people of Taiwan on the issue of the planned UN referendum.

Freedom House, the highly regarded New York-based independent non-government organization that monitors the expansion of freedom around the globe, stands firmly by Taiwan on this matter. Says Freedom House executive director Jennifer Windsor: “The US, as one of Taiwan’s few strong allies, has made it clear that it wants to maintain the status quo and prevent a provocation of Chinese military action against Taiwan. However, [the US] has no business in joining with China to bully the Taiwanese people—who have demonstrated their commitment to democracy—away from peacefully expressing their desire to occupy a seat at the United Nations.”

More importantly, the American people agree with these views. In a recent Zogby survey of more than 1200 Americans, a majority of respondents agreed that Taiwan should be offered UN membership. What’s more, a striking 70 percent agree that, in the event that the Taiwanese people do pass a referendum in support of UN membership, the US should support Taiwan’s application in the future.

While many Americans are aware of Taiwan’s quest to be admitted into the United Nations, far fewer realize what the full impact of being excluded from UN membership has meant for the people of Taiwan.

Not being permitted to join this august world body means much more than mere exclusion from the ongoing international affairs debate in New York. Because it lacks membership, Taiwan has been disqualified from every one of the United Nations’ many agencies, agencies which address a plethora of global problems ranging from combating international terrorism to disease prevention to international aviation safety. During the tragic SARS outbreak in 2003, for example, Taiwan was denied assistance by the UN’s World Health Organization and thus, for seven long weeks, stood alone in the fight against this deadly disease.

Likewise, as a major economic power, Taiwan is more than willing to substantially contribute its support and expertise to the UN-affiliated World Bank. Yet, again because Taiwan is not a member of the UN, it is not permitted to provide funds to even the World Bank, an organization whose role is crucial to the advancement of the developing world.

The list goes on. Because Taiwan is not a UN member it cannot become a signatory to the Nairobi Convention and thus cannot contribute to the crucial system of intelligence gathering and international law enforcement needed to battle global crime, including illegal drug trafficking and weapons smuggling. For the sake of the safety of millions of airline passengers, Taiwan should be allowed to participate in the International Civil Aviation Organization. However,Taiwan cannot, simply because it is not a UN member.

The negative consequences created by keeping Taiwan out of the United Nations impair not only Taiwan’s society, but free societies everywhere. Furthermore, it reflects poorly upon the honor and fairness of the United Nations itself.

For the benefit of the United Nations, as well as for the benefit of each and every UN member state, the United States must do what is right and what is fair. To do anything less would be simply un-American.

President Theodore Roosevelt also once said that, “No man is justified in doing evil on the grounds of expediency.” This maxim rings just as true in the United Nations as it does in the United States, which is why Taiwan will continue its quest for UN membership.