United States coerces China to back down on UN vote

News from early this morning:

Taipei - China, under pressure from the United States, has dropped a plan to initiate a United Nations vote affirming that Taiwan is part of China, a Taiwan newspaper said on Wednesday.

The China Times, in a dispatch from Washington DC, said China has canceled the plan for the UN vote. China now says that it is UN members' consensus that Taiwan is part of China, so there is no need for a vote.

In a nine-point clarification, the US told the UN that the assertion, 'Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China,' is not the consensus of the majority UN members, and is not the consistent policy of the US.

Washington has conveyed this stance to both the UN and Taipei, the mass-circulation Chinese-language paper said.

China originally planned to ask UN members to vote on the statement, 'Taiwan is part of China,' to block Taiwan's bid to join the UN. . .

© 2007 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

This is a major development, as an affirmative vote on the statement "Taiwan is part of China", when linked with the Resolution 2758 statement that the "representatives of the People's Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations" would have more or less permanently closed the door to UN membership for Taiwan. Undoubtedly, more details on how the U.S. was able to lean on China and convince the PRC to give up the proposed vote will follow.

Interestingly enough, China used essentially the same justification to back away from this vote that Taiwanese politicians use in regards to declaring Taiwan's independence. Taiwan leaders will say that there is no need to declare independence because Taiwan is allready an independent country. China is now saying that there is no need to put "Taiwan is a part of China" to a vote in the UN, because it is allready a commonly accepted view by the majority of UN members. The United States explicity rejected this assertion in a nine-point clarification, saying "'Taiwan is part of the People's Republic of China,' is not the consensus of the majority UN members, and is not the consistent policy of the US."

Exchange over Referendum Continues

Taiwan's Foreign Minister James Huang expressed his dipleasure with Dep. Secretary Negroponte's remarks over the proposed referendum on UN membership in Taiwan. This from Rti's website:

Taiwan's Foreign Minister James Huang said that he is disappointed with Negroponte's comments. Huang said that the referendum is not an attempt to move towards independence or towards altering the status quo. He said that it is just a way for the Taiwanese people to express their views.

Also, the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) appears to be undaunted, if unhappy about the recent remarks coming out of the US, reports die Deutsche Presse-Agentur:

Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party said Wednesday it would mobilize in mid-September 1 million people both in Taiwan and abroad to rally for island's bid to seek UN membership and hold a referendum on the issue.


"We will hold a rally in Kaohsiung on September 15 to promote our cause," party secretary-general Lin Chia-lung declared, adding he expected half a million people to show up for the event in the southern port city.

Another 500,000 overseas supporters are expected to join the party in staging rallies in various parts of the world simultaneously, he said.

He slammed the United States, Taiwan's informal ally and biggest arms' supplier, for trying to block the island from holding a referendum on joining the United Nations in the name of "Taiwan."

. . . Taiwan's foreign ministry on Wednesday reiterated that the UN referendum had nothing to do with the island's desire to change its status. Spokesman David Wang said it was the most democratic and peaceful way for Taiwanese to express their wish to join the United Nations.

While expressing regret over Negroponte's remarks, Wang said his ministry will continue to communicate with Washington over the issue.

Negroponte's remark is the strongest warning US officials have made so far against Taiwan's upcoming UN referendum.

Finally, Rpi reports that both presidential candidates from Taiwan's two major parties have weighed in on Negroponte's comments.