Taiwan's history – and destiny – of freedom from China

In international relations, one of the closest parallels to Taiwan is East Timor, although Taiwan is much more prosperous and maintains a vigorous democracy. Only with the fall of Indonesian President Suharto in 1998 – after nearly a quarter century of oppressive military rule – did the East Timorese people gain the right to vote on their future, choosing independence and freedom overwhelmingly.

While East Timor was controlled by Indonesia, China criticized such "splittist" movements as the call for East Timorese independence. But after East Timor's referendum, China was the very first nation to recognize its independence. The parallels between Taiwan and East Timor, as well as China's support of East Timor's independence, need more emphasis in international relations.

The US must continue to work closely with other interested nations – such as Australia, Japan, Canada, and European countries – to give Taiwan international standing, such as observer status, or even membership, in the World Health Organization (WHO). Disease does not recognize borders and Taiwan has suffered from not having proper representation in this forum. The 2003 SARS outbreak, for example, killed many more people than necessary in Taiwan because of the slow international response. China's claim that it can represent Taiwan in WHO has repeatedly proved to be false.

Taiwan should also be integrated into a variety of international forums and activities. The island has formal diplomatic relations with the Solomon Islands and gives significant aid. It would help the Solomon Islands as well as donor nations if Taiwan's aid could be integrated into the multilateral aid efforts that include the US, Australia, and Japan. Such efforts could be replicated elsewhere.

Taiwan should also be welcomed into the Australia Group, which seeks to assure that industries in the 38 member countries do not assist states that try to acquire chemical and biological weapons.

Despite a mirage of leadership unity, China has considerable debates about its Taiwan policies. Taiwan investment makes a considerable contribution to China's current economic boom and to China's economic reforms. A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would endanger many of these efforts. Many Chinese welcome Taiwan's bold freedom of speech and the press, as well as the ability of its judiciary to indict executive-branch VIPs. A Chinese takeover would suppress these freedoms.

Polls show that the number of people in Taiwan who consider themselves Chinese has declined from 25 percent of the population in 1992 to about 6 percent now. A world that increasingly values self-determination would be a much safer place if China would renounce its false historical claim on Taiwan.

• Bruce Jacobs is professor of Asian Languages and Studies and director of the Taiwan Research Unit at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

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