United Nations failing to live up to its task

The United Nations is unquestionably the highest and most important world organization in history. Its charter clearly warmly invites all peace-loving states to join. Yet to this date, there is one country that has been trying to join the United Nations and their petition has been totally ignored. We are referring to the Republic of China that relocated to Taiwan after the People's Republic of China was established on mainland China. That was way back in 1949. Since then, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have been governed separately and we now have two Chinas.

Then on October 25, 1971, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 2758 (XXVI) and gave the Republic of China's seat to the People's Republic of China. The resolution did not confer the right to represent the government and people of Taiwan to the PRC. And so now, we not only have two Chinas, we have a China that is not even a part of the United Nations. One China is missing.

We honestly cannot see how the United Nations and the world for that matter can gain by excluding Taiwan from its membership. If the United Nations cannot include all nations, then it is not the international organization it pretends to be. The issue of having one or two Chinas is better left to the two Chinas to decide, but the United Nations should not recognize one and pretend that the other China does not even exist or does not merit inclusion in the United Nations. The two countries are not at war.

What the United Nations should do is to recognize both Chinas and be the mediator to bring them closer together. We must have world peace whether there are two Chinas or not. We really don't see what the United Nations has to gain by adopting a political apartheid against Taiwan. During the outbreak of the acute respiratory syndrome in Asia, Taiwan could not do its part because it had also been denied admission to the World Health Organization.

We live in one world and, as they say, the world is now a global village. It is incomprehensible how up to this date, the United Nations has excluded Taiwan from membership. That is not a good reflection on the United Nations. Their mission is to bring all nations together in peace and harmony. So long as they are excluding Taiwan from membership, they are betraying their mission. What have they gained by excluding Taiwan? It simply shows that they are not complete. We really hope that there will be peace and reconciliation between the two Chinas and that the United Nations becomes the venue for their reconciliation.