A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator said yesterday the party opposed the government’s plan to apply for “meaningful” participation in UN agencies.
DPP Legislator Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) told a press conference yesterday that if the government applied to become a member of the UN’s 15 agencies, it would use the name “Taiwan region, the Republic of China,” which he said would seriously downgrade the nation’s status.
He said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) approach to join international organizations would give the international community the impression that Taiwan is part of China.
The lawmaker said that while the former DPP administration had used a different approach in its UN bids, the Ma administration had changed the policy and only sought participation in agencies.
He said the new approach had confused the nation’s allies about how to help Taiwan in its bid during the General Assembly.
Pan said Ma’s weak approach could avert “angering” China, but it would seriously hurt the country, something Taiwanese would never accept.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday it was lobbying hard for the nation’s bid to participate in UN agencies, with a decision by the UN General Committee possibly coming as early as tomorrow.
“The ministry is paying close attention to the bid and is vigorously lobbying [for support],” ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) told a press conference.
Chen refused to comment on the possible outcome of the latest diplomatic initiative, but said that how it plays out would be a barometer of the relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait as well as Taiwan’s international image and status.
With the General Committee scheduled to begin meeting at 10am today, ministry officials will stay up all night to closely monitor the situation, Chen said.
“We will have a comprehensive statement regarding the result of this year’s UN bid on Thursday morning,” Chen said.
The length of time spent debating the nation’s UN bid was considered by the DPP administration as an indication of how much the country’s efforts were valued in the international community.
The General Committee, which comprises delegates from 28 countries, will render its decision today on what will be put on the agenda for the 63rd UN General Assembly, which opened yesterday.
This year’s bid is also departs from previous efforts in other respects.
Three of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — Nicaragua, the Solomon Islands and Honduras — are sitting on of the General Committee, the nation’s highest number of allies on the committee since 1993.
Taiwan has not been a member of the UN since 1971, after the People’s Republic of China took the China seat from the Republic of China.
Over the past 15 years, Taiwan has failed to get the General Assembly to list the issue of Taiwan’s membership on the agenda because of obstruction by Beijing.
Chen said that this year, the ministry had sent Lily Hsu (徐儷文), deputy director-general of the Department of International Organizations, and a senior ambassador to lead its lobbying team.
The team will continue to promote the bid to the very end, he said.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
Taiwan on Friday said a New Zealand hamburger restaurant has apologized for a racist remark to a Taiwanese customer after reports that it had first apologized to China sparked outrage in Taiwan. An image posted on Threads by a Taiwanese who ate at Fergburger in Queenstown showed that their receipt dated Sunday last week included the words “Ching Chang,” a racial slur. The Chinese Consulate-General in Christchurch in a statement on Thursday said it had received and accepted an apology from the restaurant over the incident. The comment triggered an online furor among Taiwanese who saw it as an insult to the
RSS