15 Years of Rejections: UN rejects Taiwan’s application

I missed this news last week, but am not surprised by the result. The United Nations rejected Taiwan’s application to become a member nation for the 15th time since Taiwan has been expelled from the U.N. and has tried to re-apply, as mentioned in The San Jose Mercury’s article “UN rejects Taiwan’s application.” :

The self-ruled island applied on July 19 to join the United Nations as Taiwan—a departure from 14 previous post-1971 applications to become a member as the Republic of China. The bid reflected the policies of President Chen Shui-bian, who favors making the island’s de facto independence permanent.”

This of course angered the People’s Republic of China (mainland China), which received entry into the United Nations at the Republic of China’s (Taiwan) expense in 1971. The reality however is that Taiwan has been functioning as an independent nation since its rejection from the U.N. and has a thriving economy with its own currency, native Taiwanese language, history, and self-elected democratic government. This week’s KQED’s Pacific Time program interviews the Taiwanese heavy metal band ChthoniC that is promoting Taiwan’s bid for U.N. recognition as it tours the US as part of Ozzfest. You can listen to the interview here (MP3). I wrote about this previously in this post: Ozzy Osbourne to help Taiwan in U.N. membership quest.