Doomed ambition

It came as no surprise when on Monday the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs returned the application signed by Chen Shuibian for Taiwan to become a UN member under its own.

The reason is obvious: The world body has no reason to accept as a member an island that has no sovereignty and is part of the People's Republic of China (PRC). UN Resolution 2758, adopted in 1971, made it quite clear that the government of the PRC is the sole legitimate government of China.

Another fact is that 169 countries have diplomatic relations with China and all acknowledge there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is a part of it.