Taiwan on Wednesday defended its right to seek to rejoin the United Nations under the name of Taiwan, despite warnings from China against this "risky move," according to dpa. "Taiwan is a sovereign country and an important member of the international community, but its people are barred from international organizations by China for ridiculous reasons," the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. The council urged Beijing to face the fact that Taiwan and China do not belong to each other, and asked Beijing to stop meddling in Taiwan's internal affairs. China regards Taiwan as its breakaway province since the two sides split at the end of a civil war in 1949. It claims the island is not entitled to international recognition and has vowed to attack it if it declares formal independence from China. Taiwan plans to hold a referendum on whether Taipei should apply to rejoin the UN under the name of "Taiwan." If the outcome is yes, Taiwan will apply in September to the UN General Assembly. Taiwan, whose official title is the Republic of China, was expelled from the UN in 1991 when the world body accepted Beijing as the legitimate representative of China.
