Sure-Fire Vote-Getters

Opposition to Taiwan's attempt to join the U.N. from the local China Post:

The KMT has been...mimicking the DPP [Taiwan's main independence party] in every major political initiative, including such crucial issues as the U.N. bid and what the United States has branded an "ill-conceived" plan to hold a national referendum on U.N. membership under the name Taiwan.  Apparently out of electoral considerations, the opposition KMT has chosen to follow, rather than oppose, the DPP's move for fear of losing votes.

Taiwan's 23 million people do not deserve U.N. membership.  They should gain membership to have their voice heard and to contribute to the world organization.  [emphasis added]

Picture the electoral chances of some poor boob from the KMT who takes the Post's advice and proclaims, "My fellow Taiwanese:  You SHOULD gain U.N. membership...but you don't DESERVE it!"

(Pity we aren't given the reasons WHY Taiwan's people don't deserve it.  Are they too stupid?  Too fat?  Too ugly?  Killed puppies in their previous lives?  What, exactly?)

To the China Post, the issue is an unwelcome distraction from badmouthing the economy as a means of persuading people to hitch Taiwan's economy even further to China's:

But there are issues more important than the U.N. bid, which is a non-starter in the first place.  The KMT should have the courage to initiate campaign issues of its own, issues that concern the public interest.

One of the more comical aspects of the KMT's recent rally in support of its U.N. referendum question was its half-heartedness.  Taiwan should try to join the U.N. under the Republic of China name, or some other practical name.  That was supposed to be the event's major theme, anyways.  But the march's organizers couldn't resist throwing all manner of economic complaints into the stew, even going so far as to request that supporters wear blue flip-flops as symbols of their destitution under President Chen's administration.

The result was a diluted message.  Hey everybody, we're FIRMLY committed to Taiwan joining the U.N..  (But please notice we'd rather talk about all this OTHER stuff instead!)

In a similar way, the paper sought to dismiss the value of U.N. membership by trotting out the example of one country that's doing very well on its own outside of the U.N., thank you very much:

The U.N. membership is important to be sure, but it is not everything.  Switzerland is not a U.N. member for instance.  It is rich and prosperous.

Of course, the effect of this argument is somewhat blunted by the fact that Switzerland DID become a U.N. member.  Back in 2002. 

(And regardless of its recent date of entry, the Swiss had long played host to a number of U.N. organizations in a little town known as Geneva.)

From Beijing's lips to the China Post's presses, the next one's wrong as well:

Taiwan's U.N. bid, initiated in 1993 when Lee Teng-hui was in power, was a political move to deceive the people.  The hidden purpose was to promote the cause of Taiwan independence...

By that reasoning, East Germany and North Korea's entry into the U.N. were also crafty moves designed to promote those respective countries' independence.  Funny, but it didn't exactly work out that way for East Germany.  And I dare say it won't for North Korea, either.

The piece concludes on an optimistic note, best paraphrased from Homer J. Simpson: "Taiwan, you tried your best and you failed miserably.  The lesson is, never try."

Now, 15 years has elapsed [since Taiwan first attempt to rejoin the U.N.] and the bid has become more hopeless than ever.  Yes, Taiwan can keep trying next year and every year "to let the world know the absurdity" of the issue.  But is it wise to do so when there are more pressing issues at home?

What I would dispute here is the notion that Taiwan can't walk and chew gum at the same time.  Is it really so difficult, so costly, for Taiwan to apply to the U.N. that resources can't simultaneously be channeled towards other domestic problems? *  Just how much time does it take for President Chen to draft a few letters to the Secretary-General?  How hard is it for Taiwan's overseas diplomats to petition its allies for help?  I mean, that's their JOB, isn't it?  It's what they're PAID to do.  The government isn't going to wake up tomorrow and say, "Hey!  We've got more pressing issues at home!  Let's recall all those good-for-nothing diplomats of ours and put them to work in Allen-wrench factories instead!"

There are plenty of countries that are worse off than Taiwan.  Far worse off.  But relative poverty has not been an excuse for them to put off joining the U.N..

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* Sunday's Taipei Times put a price tag on Taiwan's recent U.N. bid:

Which brings us to the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) threat last week to sue the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for spending an estimated NT$100 million (US$3 million) on its UN campaign. Though the exercise failed in its primary objective, it was immensely successful in promoting Taiwan and engendering debate all over the world. Rarely has Taiwan been discussed so extensively in newspapers, from the US to Denmark, or had rallies -- from San Francisco to Vancouver -- held in support of the nation.

To put things in perspective, the DPP's campaign only came at one-fifteenth of the cost of an F-16 aircraft. From a PR point of view, that NT$100 million was a wise investment.

Quite an apropos comparison to make, between the cost of the U.N. bid and part of Taiwan's defense expenditure.  For three million dollars, Taiwan energized some of its international supporters, and those supporters made their backing public.  Such visible support, in some SMALL way, makes an attack on Taiwan less likely, because it makes the point clear to Beijing that any attack would not be yawned at by members of the international community.  It lets the Chinese know there may be unpleasant international consequences for them if they ever take aggressive action against the Beautiful Isle.

I'd be the first to say that the significance of this deterrent value should not be overestimated.  Given that though, I'd also ask whether an additional one-fifteenth of an F-16 would have provided Taiwan with much more deterrence at the margins.

Comments

[Tim Maddog]

Gotta detest the CHINA Post: Logically, linguistically , and geographically challenged. Oh yeah, I forgot -- *factually* challenged, too. (They've probably also got their own problems with walking/gum-chewing coordination and are just "projecting.")

The reaction to the 915 rallies in Taiwan and around the world makes me think that the rallies achieved *much more* success than the CHINA Post's editors and many others are willing to admit. I am quite happy to have been a part of that.

[The Foreigner]

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I hear ya. I'm actually glad though that there's ONE English paper to tell the me the pan-Blue perspective on things. I can usually count on them to give me something to write about.

But I do have to admit that when they say things like Lee Tung-hui's U.N. bids were "political moves to deceive the people," I rub my eyes and wonder whether I'm reading something from Xinhua News Agency. That's definitely not a mainstream KMT position they're trying to peddle there.