Taiwan's 12th bid for UN membership was rejected by a vote of 94 to 21 at the 59th UN General Assembly session yesterday, once again failing to make it onto the assembly's agenda. Although the nation still remains outside the world body, its new strategies and tactics were a breakthrough compared with those of the past, and they deserve our praise.
The national title used was an obvious change. In the joint proposal by our 15 diplomatic allies -- entitled "The Question of the Representation of the 23 Million People of Taiwan in the United Nations" -- the nation is called the "Republic of China (Taiwan)" in the first paragraph, but is referred to as "Taiwan" in the rest of the text.
When the nation launched its first UN bid some 12 years ago, the name used was the "Republic of China." In the past few years, this was amended to the "Republic of China on Taiwan." But the change this year, to the "Republic of China (Taiwan)" only in the first paragraph, shows the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has adjusted Taiwan's national title in accordance with the political situation at home and abroad.
President Chen Shui-bian (
Breaking with past practice, Chen this year directly attacked UN Resolution 2758, which recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the representative of the people of China. Chen promoted a legal separation of Taiwan and China, saying that "Taiwan is Taiwan, and Taiwan neither can nor will compete for China's right to representation."
The president stressed that Resolution 2758 has been misused to block Taiwan from UN participation, depriving Taiwan's 23 million people of their basic human right to participate in UN activities. He said this not only violates the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights principles, it also mocks the UN's principle of universality for membership.
Noting that both East and West Germany had enjoyed UN membership and that this had not prevented their eventual unification, and that North and South Korea's separate seats in the UN do not stop them from pursuing unification, Chen asked that the international community allow both sides of the Taiwan Strait to be UN members, thus making the UN a platform for cross-strait negotiations.
The Government Information Office also engaged in an international ad campaign publishing ads entitled "UNFAIR," bringing the issue directly to the international community and highlighting the unfairness of the UN's political isolation of Taiwan and its people. Chen also broke the back of China's incessant suppression of Taiwan by his unprecedented conference with international media during which he emphasized Taiwan's appeal to join the UN. These events show that the government's tactics are becoming more layered and flexible.
In a US presidential election year, no one wants to see any major changes, so it is not surprising to once again see Taiwan's bid to enter the UN end in failure. Despite this, the increased visibility and discussion of Taiwan's UN membership in the General Assembly, and recognition regarding the misuse of Resolution 2758 is heartening; it marks a significant step forward on Taiwan's road to UN membership.
It is employment pass renewal season in Singapore, and the new regime is dominating the conversation at after-work cocktails on Fridays. From September, overseas employees on a work visa would need to fulfill the city-state’s new points-based system, and earn a minimum salary threshold to stay in their jobs. While this mirrors what happens in other countries, it risks turning foreign companies away, and could tarnish the nation’s image as a global business hub. The program was announced in 2022 in a bid to promote fair hiring practices. Points are awarded for how a candidate’s salary compares with local peers, along
China last month enacted legislation to punish —including with the death penalty — “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists.” The country’s leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), need to be reminded about what the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has said and done in the past. They should think about whether those historical figures were also die-hard advocates of Taiwanese independence. The Taiwanese Communist Party was established in the Shanghai French Concession in April 1928, with a political charter that included the slogans “Long live the independence of the Taiwanese people” and “Establish a republic of Taiwan.” The CCP sent a representative, Peng
Japan and the Philippines on Monday signed a defense agreement that would facilitate joint drills between them. The pact was made “as both face an increasingly assertive China,” and is in line with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s “effort to forge security alliances to bolster the Philippine military’s limited ability to defend its territorial interests in the South China Sea,” The Associated Press (AP) said. The pact also comes on the heels of comments by former US deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, who said at a forum on Tuesday last week that China’s recent aggression toward the Philippines in
The Ministry of National Defense on Tuesday announced that the military would hold its annual Han Kuang exercises from July 22 to 26. Military officers said the exercises would feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure. This year’s exercises underline the recent reforms in Taiwan’s military as it transitions from a top-down command structure to one where autonomy is pushed down to the front lines to improve decisionmaking and adaptability. Militaries around the world have been observing and studying Russia’s war in Ukraine. They have seen that the Ukrainian military has been much quicker to adapt to