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| Letters
to the Editor --Brown
Daily Herald |
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Free Taiwan
Peter Chai
March 22, 2007
Imagine if, when you went
to represent your country in the Olympics in 2008, your
country did not exist. Imagine if you were watching a
televised meeting of the United Nations and there was no
American representative. Imagine for a moment that one day
you were no longer American, because there was no such thing
as the United States.
This is the reality of the people of Taiwan, a small island
nation just off the coast of China. We are 23 million
citizens living in a country that the world doesn't
recognize. Today, Zhou Wenzhong, the Chinese ambassador to
the United States, comes to Brown to represent a country
that has fought for decades to force the world to forget
Taiwan.
Imagine that you are an Olympic Tae Kwan Do gold medalist.
Imagine receiving your medal under the Olympic flag in 2004
to the Olympic anthem because your country isn't recognized
- you come from "nowhereland."
Imagine you are a citizen standing in line to vote in
Taiwan's first democratic elections in 1995, while Chinese
missiles soar overhead. Imagine you are an emergency room
physician in Taiwan in 2003 battling the emergence of SARS,
but because your country is banned from the World Health
Organization, you don't realize the disease is airborne.
Imagine you are a member of Taiwan's presidential cabinet
and send your children to school in Washington, D.C. - but
to please China, the United States bans you from visiting
your home and your children.
Taiwan has lived under a shadow cast by China for decades.
Since Taiwan's loss of U.N. membership in 1971, China has
repeatedly stated that Taiwan - a country with its own
government, flag and standing army - is not an independent
state. "Rogue province," "necessary use of force" and
"reunification" are the "peaceful" words the Chinese
government uses to placate the world.
Despite international pressure, Taiwan has sought to become
a member of the international community. Taiwan acted as a
first responder during the recent tsunami in Southeast Asia
and has become an international power in manufacturing.
Nonetheless, Taiwan remains neglected internationally. Even
the United States, a proponent of Taiwan's transition to
democracy, refuses to resolutely support its key trading
partner and important regional partner in promoting East
Asian democracy.
When you hear the Chinese ambassador speak, think about the
hypocrisy of his words when he talks about China "becoming a
greater international friend." Don't forget Tibet, which
suffers under Chinese occupation, and the persecutions of
the Falun Gong in China. Don't forget Taiwan.
Today, at 4 p.m. in Salomon 101, take the chance to speak up
to the Chinese ambassador. In his native country, people do
not have that chance.
Peter Chai '06 MD'10 is
Taiwanese-American. |
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