According to the U.N.requirements, each of its members must be a state that is willing and able to uphold the principles of the U.N. Charter. This is exactly what President Chen Shui-bian had declared in his letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon: "Taiwan accepts the obligations contained in the Charter of the United Nations and solemnly under takes to fulfill them."
Taiwan meets the criteria set by the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States to be a sovereign, independent country. Taiwan has a defined territory, a population of 23 million people, a functional government and the capacity to conduct foreign relations with other countries.
The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights adds a fifth requirement for statehood by stressing that a country's legitimate government should be the true representative of the people. Taiwan has met this requirement by achieving a transition to democracy through the so-called "quiet revolution."
Since the OLA cited Resolution 2758 as the reason of its rejecting Taiwan's bid, it is necessary to have a closer look at that resolution. Passed in 1971, Resolution 2758 made the PRC the "sole legitimate government of China." That resolution did not include any provision for representation of the people of Taiwan, however, nor did it mention anything about treating Taiwan as a part of the PRC.
Furthermore, Taiwan's U.N. bid is not to overturn Resolution 2758, a product of ideological confrontation during the Cold-War era. What it asks is for the General Assembly to consider the lack of representation for the people of Taiwan. China considers Taiwan's U.N. bid as a move toward formal independence. But the U.N. membership should not be viewed as an obstacle to unification, with East and West Germany and the two Koreas serving as good examples.
While constructive dialogue and negotiation have replaced the hostile confrontation of the past, China still refuses to renounce the use of force against Taiwan, despite of the fact that Taiwan has made around US$100 billion worth of investments in China. With China's military buildup in recent years, a U.N. seat for Taiwan has become a must to help the two sides make progress toward normalization of relations, so as to safeguard peace and stability of the whole Asia-Pacific region.
