Taipei, July 26 (CNA) Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun and five former advisors to the president, civil groups and individual advocates teamed up Thursday to establish an alliance which aims to support Taiwan's U.N. membership bid.
"The government is now doing the right thing. The objective of this alliance is to assemble groups that support Taiwan's U.N. bid and tell the world what the people of Taiwan want, " said Chen Lung-chu, one of the 15 co-founders of the "Taiwan for U.N. Alliance."
The alliance will waste no time, but devote itself to planning a series of events in support of Taiwan's U.N. bid, including a rally expected to draw a million participants, collecting signatures in support of a referendum on the U.N. bid, and organizing promotional events in Taiwan and overseas, Chen said.
"Nothing that is impossible. The lifting of Martial Law and direct presidential elections were once considered impossible to achieve, but look at what we have accomplished now, " he said in reference to making a bid for the U.N. under the name of Taiwan.
The attitude of the U.S. is critical to Taiwan's U.N. bid, said former advisor to President Chen Shui-bian Koo Kwang-min, who also questioned the U.S.'s reasoning and right to oppose Taiwan's bid.
The U.S. is now trying to persuade Taiwan's president to give up on a task which over 70 percent of Taiwanese support, Koo said. If the president turns his back on the people under U.S. pressure, Koo warned, an anti-U.S. sentiment in Taiwanese society will probably prove inevitable.
"We are aware that there will be many legal disputes and different opinions on the issue. We hope that the people of Taiwan and the international community will be able to face this issue together," said DPP Secretary-General Lin Chia-lung, who attended the ceremony on behalf of party chairman Yu Shyi-kun.
The U.N. bid is key for Taiwan's survival and recognition on the international stage, former advisor to the president Wu Li-pei said, adding that Taiwan has relied too much on the support of foreign governments in the past and "it is now time to voice our own opinion."
Co-founders of the alliance also lambasted U.N. Secretariat and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for failing to follow the U.N. Charter in dealing with President Chen Shui-bian's letter to join the world body, describing Ban as one "who sees no people in Taiwan and operates without the U.N. Charter in his heart."
Co-founders of the alliance include Chen Lung-chu, Koo Kwang-min, Wu Li-pei, Chen Chi-sheng, Reverend Kao Jun-ming, Peng Ming-min, Examination Yuan President Yao Chia-wen, Lee Hong-si, Yu Shyi-kun, Huang Chiau-tong, Reverend William Lo, Wu Shu-min, Chen Bo-chih, Tsai Ting-kuei and Allen Houng.
Groups that have signed up to the alliance included the DPP, Peng Foundation for Culture and Education, the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan, the Taiwan United Nations Alliance, Constitution Reform Alliance, Taiwan New Century Foundation, and Taiwan Association of University Professors, among others.