Taiwan's Entry into the UN opposed by Ch...THE USA?!!

It seems like today was a good day to protest and/or march...at least if you're in Taiwan and the USA. Anyways, I was checking the news today when I saw video of what was said to be 100,000 people marching the streets of Taipei in support of Taiwan's latest efforts to join the UN. Before, Taiwan has tried this, and naturally, every time they have China gets angry and starts complaining. The UN not wanting to anger one of its Security Council members has rejected every previous Taiwan bid because Taiwan applies to the UN as its official name, "The Republic of China", and there can only be one "China" in the UN.

So this time,(#15) Taiwan is applying simply as "Taiwan" for membership. Again this begins to ruffle Chinese feathers (as it has and may always do) which alone would probably be enough to keep Taiwan out of the UN even with it's "new" name.

However, the thing that disturbs me the most of this story has nothing to do with the Taiwanese-Chinese rivalry. Instead it has to do with the United States shunning its democratic allies bid to join the UN.

John Negroponte, US Deputy Sec. of State made these recent comments about Taiwan's UN bid to Hong Kong based Phoenix TV. "We see that as a step towards a declaration of independence of Taiwan, towards an alteration of the status quo." He goes on to say "What I would like to emphasize is that we believe it's important to avoid any kind of provocative steps on the part of Taiwan."

When hearing this comment, i could have sworn the same thing could have been uttered by a Chinese official, vague terms and all. I mean what really is the status quo that he is talking about? Taiwan's President Chen is also confused saying in response,

"As a leader in the community of democracies, why can't the U.S. say no to China?," he asked. "Why can't the U.S. openly say that you can't hold a gun pointing at the head of the 23 million people of Taiwan and use the other hand to choke Taiwan" and then say Taiwan "can't cry out in pain?" He also mentions that poll numbers say 77% of Taiwanese support its membership in the UN.

Now I realize in politics, like in many situations, there are things you say, and things you actually do. The US says it has a "One China" policy but has done very little to actually prove it. Now that Taiwan is making its move, the US was forced to react. This time choosing to say it opposes Taiwan's membership bid. However, I still have little doubt that if China decides one day to attack Taiwan (which won't happen), the US would be there to defend it. The real issue however isn't the danger of war, but the danger of losing money should relations begin to turn sour. Both US and China know that without the other, it would cause a severe blow to economies and society in both countries. In this case keeping things hunky dory is much better than standing up for what your country is supposed to believe in. When it comes to Taiwan however, It seems like only the US is making this sacrifice. And yes I did just say hunky dory.