Taiwan has submitted a formal application to become a member of the UN, a Presidential Office official said yesterday.
Deputy Secretary-General of the Presidential Office Chen Chi-mai (
The application was signed by President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen Chi-mai did not respond directly to a question about why the UN application had been filed before rather than after the referendum, which has been set to coincide with either legislative or presidential elections next year.
"Conducting referendums is the right of the people," he said.
He warned China not to sabotage the move, saying that Taiwan is a sovereign country.
Beijing has shot down Taiwan's repeated efforts to join the UN over the past 14 years under the name "Republic of China."
"The government will do all it can to defend our sovereignty, dignity and safety in the face of China's boycott and suppression," Chen Chi-mai said.
"Since 1993 our allies have proposed to solve the membership issue [in the UN's General Assembly] ... but our modest and rational approach has been rejected. Therefore we are presenting a [different] membership case this year," he said.
Taiwan left the UN in 1971 when its seat -- which it held under the name "Republic of China" -- was transferred to the Beijing-based government of the People's Republic of China.
China jumped on Taiwan's latest bid yesterday.
"The plot of the Taiwan authorities to `join the UN under the name of Taiwan' is a separatist action by Taiwan independence forces aimed at splitting Taiwan from China," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) said. "We are resolutely opposed to this and are closely watching developments of the situation. This separatist plot of the Taiwan authorities is doomed to failure."
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
RSS