It was nice to learn that the ambassador of the free and democratic government of Taiwan was finally invited, albeit at the 11th hour, to yesterday’s commemoration of those murdered in the attacks of September 11. It was appropriate because Taiwan lost one citizen and at least eight natives in the attack a year ago, and five Taiwanese banks were stationed in the World Trade Center. The Bloomberg administration had declined to invite Taiwan’s ambassador, Andrew Hsia, in deference to the State Department’s one-China policy, restricting invitations to nations represented at the United Nations. The Bloomberg administration changed course, inviting Mr. Hsia after our Jacob Gershman reported the ironies of his exclusion in a dispatch Friday in The New York Sun. Unfortunately, though, Mr. Hsia was invited as a guest rather than as a participant. Such luminary states as Syria were invited to participate.

A number of people have expressed perplexity at the Sun’s preoccupation with the slights to Taiwan by the Bloomberg administration, but we offer no apologies. The struggle for democracy in China is one of the most important on the planet. Mayor Giuliani, with his wonderful capacity to hew a politically incorrect line, made a point of standing by Taiwan, one of the real democracies to emerge in the developing world in the second half of the 20th century. It is the only Chinese democracy today. The democratic government on Taiwan holds that it is a sovereign and independent nation. The communist People’s Republic of China holds that the island is part of one China. The United States and Japan both formally “acknowledge” the Red Chinese position, while taking no official position themselves. A summary of the controversy and relevant documents can be found at http://www.taiwandocuments.org.

This year will mark the tenth in which United Nations membership for the island nation will be brought before the international body by allies such as El Salvador, Chad, and Guatemala. After the formal inclusion of Switzerland in the U.N., Taiwan’s 23 million people — who constitute the 16th largest economy in the world and the 14th largest trading nation — will be the last without a voice. At a recent luncheon for Ambassador Hsia, the question was asked how America’s attention could be focused on the Taiwan question. The consensus among attendees was that it would be difficult, given the War on Terrorism, short of military action or threats from the mainland. What can be done, however, is for the federal government to make subtle shifts, such as it has done in supporting Taiwan’s bid for observer status with the World Health Organization. And at the local level, politicians are not always bound to bow to the policies of the State Department. So when New York’s mayor can make the ambassador welcome, it has an impact.