Why the Republic of China?
Once more, on October 10th we celebrate the birth of the Republic of China.
You may ask, why the Republic of China instead of the Republic of Taiwan? After all, Taiwan is the more commonly accepted name for the ROC government these days. But our official name as the ROC must not be forgotten for the meaning that it carries. Of course, there are the obvious reason for why we should keep our official name: the name Republic of China is our heritage. It was the Republic of China that fortified Taiwan against Communist takeover, the banner of which so many have sacrificed, so that we may enjoy the life that we have today.
But there is also another reason: a government that calls itself the Republic of China is one that dares to be equal to the Communists’ People’s Republic of China. Notice that Beijing calls the ROC government Taiwan and never acknowledges the ROC government as the ROC. The PRC cannot admit the co-existence of the PRC and ROC, but the PRC already has a place for Taiwan in its atlas: as a province of the PRC.
To abandon the name Republic of China for the name Taiwan is to concede that the ROC government is NOT equal or as sovereign as the PRC government. The PRC wants us to use the name Taiwan so that we admit that we are subservient to the PRC. If we only use the name of what the PRC considers a province, then the PRC will continue to treat us as a province. Needless to say, being treated as a province runs counter to our right to be a national government! However, I cannot agree with President Ma’s current proposal of treating Beijing as an illegitimate government. No one else treats Beijing as illegitimate, and it does not make sense for us to do so just because they treat us as illegitimate. We must treat each other as equals, we must keep the door open for a possible Korean or German solution.*
Today is National Day of the Republic of China. So let us rally around the ROC name and the ROC flag and say to the Beijing that our Republic of China is just as legitimate and just as sovereign a government as theirs, and we must treat each other as equals.
*One may argue that the PRC would never agree to recognizing the ROC or a Korean/German solution, but to say so would mean that the PRC would also never agree to an independent Taiwan, making the argument inherently flawed.
