More Taiwan Tensions

What’s in a name? For Taiwan, the answer may be its survival. The latest political gambit by outgoing President Chen Shui-bian has both elicited veiled threats from China and pitted his country against its main ally, the U.S. At issue is the name under which Taiwan intends to apply to regain membership in the United Nations. Chen has called for a referendum next March on whether the island should forgo its official name (the Republic of China) in favor of Taiwan. It’s a provocative gesture, as it would seemingly codify Chen’s contention that the island is effectively independent of the mainland.

Hoping to maintain the tenuous peace between Taipei and Beijing, which considers the island an inseparable part of China, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte has called Chen’s proposal “a mistake,” urging Taiwan’s leaders to “behave in a responsible manner.” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office warned that it has “made necessary preparations to cope with any serious situation” across the strait. Yet the criticism does not seem to have dampened enthusiasm for the referendum. On Sept. 15, more than 100,000 people rallied to support the idea in Taiwan and New York City. And Chen–whose government three days later placed a two-page ad in the New York Times calling for an end to “political apartheid”–has vowed the vote will take place.

Taiwan views America’s vocal opposition as more evidence of the influence that China wields. “Beijing now realizes the shortest route to Taipei is through Washington,” says Loh I-cheng, a retired Taiwanese diplomat. “They are telling the U.S., ‘It was you who spoiled this child. You should spank him.'”