Several more of Taiwan's diplomatic allies voiced their support for the country's bid to join the UN on Thursday during the annual session of the UN General Assembly.
Nauru, Gambia and Palau threw their weight behind Taiwan on the third day of the general debate, following similar moves by El Salvador, Honduras, Paraguay, Sao Tome and Principe and Swaziland over the previous two days.
Nauruan President Ludwig Scotty said during the debate that it was against UN rules for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to have returned Taiwan's membership application letters last month based on 1971's UN Resolution 2758, which recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the sole legitimate representative of China at the UN.
Scotty urged Ban to accept Taiwan's application immediately and submit it to the UN Security Council for review.
Accusing Ban of misinterpreting the resolution by claiming that it recognized Taiwan as part of the PRC, Scotty said that the resolution does not state that Taiwan is part of China, nor does it deny that Taiwan has the right to obtain representation in the UN.
Scotty said that Taiwan and China have long been governed separately and that Taiwan's popularly elected government is the nation's sole legitimate ruler, adding that Taiwan had no intention of challenging China's representation in the world body.
Meanwhile, Gambian Vice President Isatou Njie-Saidy called the UN's attention to the problem of the increasing militarization of the Taiwan Strait, describing the region as one where immediate security measures are required.
As an economic powerhouse with a pluralistic society and a high-tech environment, Taiwan should not be excluded from the UN, Njie-Saidy said.
Also speaking during the debate, Palauan Vice President Elias Camsek Chin expressed his disappointment at Taiwan's exclusion from the world body and criticized Ban for failing to abide by UN rules in handling Taiwan's membership applications.
The general debate is scheduled to last through Oct. 13 and more allies of Taiwan are expected to take the floor during the next few days, during which they are likely to bring up the issue of Taiwan's UN bid.
While Taiwan has tried without success to have the UN consider the issue of its representation since 1993, this year marked the first time that it applied to join the world body under the name "Taiwan" and not its official title, the "Republic of China."
However, following the return of Taiwan's application by the UN Secretariat last month, a request endorsed by 16 of the nation's allies asking the UN to address the nation's membership application was also excluded from last week's UN General Assembly agenda.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
RSS