Taiwan's 12th bid to enter the UN failed after the UN General Assembly decided on Wednesday not to include a proposal considering Taiwan's representation in the body in its agenda.
The proposal, entitled "The Question of the Representation of the 23 million people of Taiwan in the United Nations," submitted by 15 of Taiwan's allies, was discussed in the first General Committee meeting of the 59th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.
One hundred and fifteen countries spoke on the issue, with 21 of them speaking in Taiwan's favor. China mobilized 93 countries to speak against the proposal. Discussion on the issue lasted four hours.
After more than 90 speeches -- the vast majority against putting Taiwan on the assembly's agenda -- President Jean Ping of Gabon asked the assembly's General Committee if there were any objections to not including the issue for discussion in this year's General Assembly.
When none were voiced, he banged his gavel, and the request was rejected without a vote.
"At the first General Committee meeting this year, among all items considered, the one concerning Taiwan took the longest time to discuss, with the largest number of countries participating in a fervent debate," said Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
Noting that the lengthy and heated discussion of the proposal demonstrates that Taiwan's bid continues to draw extensive international attention, the minister expressed deep regret that the proposal was rejected.
"However, we are not discouraged. We have done just what is right. The international community will eventually respond positively to our appeal for justice and peace," Chen said.
Last year, China mobilized a record-high number of countries, 104, to speak against Taiwan's bid, whereas 24 of Taiwan's allies spoke in favor of it.
This year, four of Taiwan's allies, Kiribati, Panama, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, did not speak for the proposal. The Holy See, an observer in the UN, does not have the capacity to speak in the General Assembly.
Kiribati, though a UN member, did not send a delegation to the assembly. New leaders just took over Haiti and Panama, and they are still forming new diplomatic policies, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"The US remained silent throughout the discussion. Big EU nations, such as France, Germany and the UK, opposed to our bid. However, the UK, though it spoke against the proposal, spent some time acclaiming Taiwan's democratic achievement," Chen said.
Panama's ambassador to Taiwan Jose Antonio Dominguez explained that his country did not speak on behalf of Taiwan because Panama's new ambassador to the UN is still building contacts.
"We will continue supporting Taiwan. We will continue strengthening the relationship between the two countries," he said.
The ministry said although China mobilized all its diplomatic resources, "many countries that do not share diplomatic ties with us expressed to us, in a private fashion, their sympathy and support.
President Chen Shui-bian (
Speaking at a banquet celebrating the 183rd anniversary of the Independence Day of Central America, hosted by embassies of Taiwan's allies Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras, the president vowed Taiwan would try its best to be a responsible member in the international community.
"We will continue to do so with courage and determination," Chen said.
Also See Story:
Editorial: Taking steps toward a UN seat
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
RSS