President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday raised the idea of filing an application to join the UN using the name of Taiwan in his capacity as national leader.
"The People's Republic of China does not have the right to represent Taiwan nor the 23 million people of Taiwan," Chen said. "If we want to join the UN under the name of Taiwan, we must figure out who will be the best person to file the application. Should it be the president, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or our diplomatic allies?"
Chen posed the question while meeting UN ambassadors from the Marshall Islands, Honduras and Paraguay at the Presidential Office yesterday morning.
Chen said the country has made 14 futile attempts over the years to gain accession to the UN with different titles, including the Republic of China, the Republic of China on Taiwan and the Republic of China (Taiwan).
If the nation continued to use such names to try and join the organization, Chen said that it would just be fighting with the PRC over the right to represent China.
"Therefore, we are studying the possibility of attempting to join the UN using the name Taiwan to see whether such an approach would obtain more attention and support from the international community," he said.
Chen yesterday thanked his foreign guests and diplomatic allies for speaking in favor of the nation's UN bid over the years.
As it was the fundamental right of all nations to join the international body, Chen said the Taiwanese people should not be discriminated against or excluded from the global organization.
While UN Resolution No. 2758 allows for the representation of China's population, it fails to serve the interests of the Taiwanese public, he said.
Chen said that he believed the international community would agreed with him in this regard and that his administration would continue its efforts to gain membership in the UN.
"I believe we shall eventually prevail if we can gather enough support from the international community," he said.
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