On September 6, 2003, The Alliance to Campaign for Rectifying the Name of Taiwan staged a massive "From the Presidential Palace on to the United Nations" rally to advocate the rectification of Taiwan's official name. Former President Lee Teng-hui served as the convener of the rally, which was claimed to have attracted 100,000 people. The marchers were divided into seven groups, with each group walking a different route before converging in front of the presidential palace.

In a speech to the assembled crowd, Lee gave several reasons behind his assertion that the Republic of China has ceased to exist. First, Taiwan was not included when the ROC was established in 1912. Second, after the Second World War, the ROC army occupied an ungoverned Taiwan left by the surrendering Japanese colonial administration; therefore the land should have belonged to its people, not the ROC. Third, the Chinese mainland was captured by the People's Republic of China (PRC), leaving the ROC with just a name, without a territory to govern. Fourth, the PRC replaced the ROC in the United Nations, and the ROC has already disappeared from the international arena.

On this matter, President Chen Shui-bian said the problem of changing Taiwan's name needs time to resolve. The government's official position at the moment is to continue using the name ROC for official purposes. However, despite his absence, the president encouraged members of the governing Democratic Progressive Party to participate in the rally. Vice-President Annette Lu, the originally planned "mystery VIP," canceled at the last minute, but her office issued a statement saying that she very much identified with the marchers' ideals, albeit she could not participate because she had to adhere to the official position of the Office of the President.

The next day, the opposing forces also gathered in Taipei. The Grand Alliance for Protecting of the ROC-formed by the Republic of China Association of Professors, the ROC War Strategy Foundation, and other organizations-organized a street march of about 3000 persons to advocate safeguarding the name "Republic of China." New Party legislator Elmer Feng led the rally. Chiang Fang Chih-yi, the widowed daughter-in-law of the late President Chiang Ching-kuo, marched at the head of the demonstration and led the crowd in protest chants. Chiang said that the whole world must not be allowed to think that the name rectification movement represents the mainstream of opinion in Taiwan. Moreover, the Chinese Reunification Alliance and the Labor Party also staged a demonstration entitled "Oppose Taiwan Independence and Save Taiwan" on the same day.

As the pro and anti-name rectification stalemate persisted, Kuomintang chairman Lien Chan delivered a harsh rebuke to the DPP at his party's September 7 national congress. Lien accused the DPP of habitually playing to narrow-minded regional and ethnic differences to retain political power. In his capacity as an invited guest to the congress, People First Party chairman James Soong said that the ROC exists in reality as well as in name, and that Taiwan's most pressing concern is "rectifying people's hearts" rather than "rectifying names."

The governing and opposition parties have stated their own stance on the name rectification issue. How will the country proceed as both camps make their cases before the presidential election?

In a meeting before the Ketagelan Academy, President Chen said that Taiwan is truly democratic, and opinions as diverse as changing Taiwan's name, advocating the "one country, two systems" formula for unification with China, or turning Taiwan into a US state, are tolerated. And toleration of expression is a precious aspect of Taiwanese democracy.

Today's Taiwan has matured into a pluralistic society. However, is pluralism necessarily a good thing when it comes to excessive focus on the unification and independence issue?

Chen Chang-wen, president of the Red Cross Society of the ROC, warned in a statement that excessive weight attached to the unification and independence debate is dangerous on the four following grounds: First, the reunification/independence debate derails focus on other public issues, leading to political inertia. Second, heightened cross-strait tension could increase national defense spending, squeezing other budgets and public works projects. Third, Taiwan is placed in an awkward position economically, with the country shut off from the outside world because the government is afraid to lift the ban on direct transport links with mainland China, despite knowing that such a move would benefit the economy. Fourth, there is the risk that some leader could be tempted to create a crisis by provoking the PRC over this issue as a ploy to hold on to power.

It will come as no surprise that even though the president, vice-president, and other high-level officials of the governing DPP party ducked the rally, the PRC's Taiwan Affairs Office escalated its war of words by saying that the rally was held "with the support of the Taiwanese authorities."

Is it necessary to rectify Taiwan's name? In fact, while political parties bicker, the majority of people are more concerned about economic recovery and a return to the happy days of high economic growth of the past!