Taiwan began its 13th bid to become a member of the UN yesterday, as the nation's allies launched a two-pronged diplomatic effort aimed at gaining recognition by the world body.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
According to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 11 of Taiwan's 26 diplomatic allies submitted a proposal entitled "The question of the representation of the 23 million people of Taiwan in the United Nations" to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan at noon on Thursday.
The statement said the proposal was called "the participation proposal."
At the same time, 13 of the allies sent a separate proposal, entitled "A proactive role for the United Nations in maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait," to Annan's office, the statement said. That proposal was referred to as "the peace proposal."
Chen lauded the allies that had submitted the proposals, saying that their support was "based on the universal values of democracy, human rights, mutual prosperity and justice."
Taiwan, which as the Republic of China was one of the founding members of the UN in 1945, officially withdrew from the organization on Oct. 25, 1971.
In the early 1990s, the country began campaigning to rejoin the world body, but has thus far been met with stiff opposition from China, which opposes Taiwan's participation in any international organization as a sovereign state.
The ministry statement said that "Taiwan's efforts to participate in the UN are not intended to challenge the rights of or seat of any UN member states."
In unusually direct language, it said that Beijing's efforts to prevent Taiwan from joining the UN "will not help improve cross-strait relations, and will undermine peace in the [Taiwan] Strait."
"It is hoped that the Beijing authorities will face the fact that both sides have been ruled separately by different governments for more than half a century, and that Beijing will renounce its unwise enactment of the `Anti-Secession' Law, which sets the conditions for the use of force against Taiwan, and cease its barbaric attempts to constrain and repress Taiwan in the international community," the ministry said.
It was not immediately clear if the two-pronged approach adopted by the ministry would meet with any greater success than Taiwan's previous attempts to join the UN, all of which were defeated by powerful opposition from China's allies in the General Assembly.
China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) yesterday appealed to the authorities to release former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) from pretrial detention amid conflicting reports about his health. The TPP at a news conference on Thursday said that Ko should be released to a hospital for treatment, adding that he has blood in his urine and had spells of pain and nausea followed by vomiting over the past three months. Hsieh Yen-yau (謝炎堯), a retired professor of internal medicine and Ko’s former teacher, said that Ko’s symptoms aligned with gallstones, kidney inflammation and potentially dangerous heart conditions. Ko, charged with
RSS