President Chen Shui-bian on May 22 met with Bruce Herschensohn, a professor at Pepperdine University, as well as the vice chancellor of the California school, Michael Warder. The president extended a warm welcome to the visitors on behalf of the government and people of the ROC (Taiwan).
President Chen said that he is delighted to meet again with Professor Herschensohn and Vice Chancellor Warder, having first met them at the VIP lounge at Los Angeles International Airport when he made a transit stop there on January 11th. The president said that Professor Herschensohn presented to him as a gift a book that he wrote entitled Taiwan: The Threatened Democracy. He added that he had an opportunity to read the book and it made a lasting impression on him.
In the book, Professor Herschensohn indicated that he hoped Taiwan would formally abolish the National Unification Council and the National Unification Guidelines, saying that there were reservations as to the government's decision here to use the wording that the council ceased to function and the guidelines ceased to apply. The president responded that in fact, the National Unification Council and the National Unification Guidelines cease to be in practice. He said that sometimes certain phrasing is used for appearance's sake, while the crucial factor is whether the objective has been attained.
In addition, during the meeting Professor Herschensohn suggested that as October 25th this year will mark the 35th anniversary of Taiwan's withdrawal from the United Nations, this day should be declared "Taiwan Independence Day." President Chen said this is an extremely serious topic that must be dealt with and discussed in a careful manner.
The president said Taiwan is undeniably a sovereign nation. He said Taiwan has no interest in competing with the People's Republic of China for the right to represent "one China." President Chen said "one China" of course is the People's Republic of China. Even though China has a seat in the United Nations, there has been no resolution to representation in the UN for the 23 million people of Taiwan, he said. He said the foremost issue now is representation for Taiwan's 23 million people in the world body.
President Chen stressed that the 23 million people of Taiwan absolutely have the right to enter the World Health Organization, the UN and other international organizations, adding that Taiwan will not abandon its efforts in this regard. The president said he realizes that Taiwan will face tough going and knows that Taiwan has formal diplomatic relations with a limited number of nations. Nonetheless, he said the 23 million people of Taiwan should not be deprived of their collective rights to participate in international organizations. As a result, just as Taiwan recently applied to enter the WHO under the name "Taiwan," it will do the same in trying to gain entry to the UN.