Taiwan’s longstanding alienation from the UN will not see any major breakthrough this year despite the government’s “softer approach,” some academics predicted, saying the fate of Taiwan’s UN bid is in Beijing’s hands.
For the first time since 1993, Taiwan will not submit an application for membership or request the that General Assembly review Resolution 2758, which replaced the Republic of China with the People’s Republic of China as the sole representative of China in the UN, but will only seek “meaningful participation” in the activities sponsored by the 16 groups under the UN umbrella.
The text of the proposal calls upon the General Assembly to “examine the fundamental rights of the 23 million people of the Republic of China [Taiwan] to participate meaningfully in the activities of the UN specialized agencies.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was a “more gentle, feasible and pragmatic” approach as opposed to the previous administration’s “scorched earth diplomacy.”
“Of course we understand the chances of Taiwan’s proposal being adopted this year are extremely low. But our approach meets the expectations of the international community, including major players such as the United States and the EU,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Hsieh (夏立言) said.
Wang Kun-yi (王崑義), a professor at National Taiwan Ocean University, lambasted the bid as a “giant step backward,” saying limited participation in the activities of UN agencies “absolutely does not equate to joining the UN.”
The least the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government should do is to push its own UN resolution to “return” to the global body, instead of abandoning what it has promoted before, he said.
He also said Beijing’s silence on the bid so far must not be seen as welcoming the gesture.
“China is probably still too busy with the Olympic Games,” he said, “China knows it must weigh its moves carefully so it won’t appear be too hostile to avoid the risk of increasing support for Taiwanese independence.”
Another academic said the proposal should have included Taiwan’s desire to join UN activities as well as activities by UN groups because the political and functional significance of the two are “strikingly different.”
“We have jumped from one extreme to another extreme, but neither method will convince the General Assembly to include the Taiwan issue on their agenda,” said Lin Cheng-yi (林正義), a researcher at the Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies.
Last year, Taiwan for the first time tried to join the UN as a new member under the designation “Taiwan.”
Then US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs Thomas Christensen described the move as “needlessly provocative.”
“Despite our less confrontational approach this year, Beijing still won’t let Taiwan’s bid go through,” Lin said, adding that the success of the bid should not hinge upon whether the assembly’s General Affairs Committee adopts the resolution, but rather on other indicators, such as the level of debate that takes place within the committee.
“Will the committee resort again to its usual two-plus-two debate format or will more countries speak up for Taiwan? Countries such as the US, members of the EU, Canada, Japan and Australia will not support Taiwan to join the UN, but would they at least speak on Taiwan’s need to participate in the international community?” he said.
Lin Wen-cheng (林文程), deputy executive director of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, said if Beijing continues to take an oppressive approach against Taiwan despite the change in tactics, “It would be justifiable to interpret it as meaning that Beijing does not care for the ‘diplomatic truce’ that [President] Ma [Ying-jeou (馬英九)] has initiated.”
“Taiwan is retreating now in order to advance later. But if Beijing still blocks Taiwan’s observership bid at the next World Health Assembly in May, then we can take it that China has no interest in extending goodwill to Taiwan on the diplomatic front,” he said.
The ball, Lin said, was in Beijing’s court.
‘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
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
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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
RSS