The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) declined to comment on the nation's annual UN bid after the deadline for filing such a request passed yesterday. It only said it would reveal its plan next week.
Rule 14 of the UN General Assembly's rules of procedure states that “any member or principal organ of the United Nations or the Secretary-General may, at least thirty days before the date fixed for the opening of a regular session, request the inclusion of supplementary items in the agenda.”
The General Assembly is scheduled to open its 64th session on Sept. 15 at its New York headquarters.
None of the government agencies, such as the foreign ministry, the Government Information Office or the Presidential Office, has held any briefing on Taiwan's strategy to either enter the global body or increase its participation in UN specialized agencies — as it requested last year.
Under the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, the nation's yearly attempt to enter the UN after the Republic of China forfeited its seat in 1971 was a priority task for the foreign ministry.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Hsia (夏立言) said on Friday the absence of a formal bid prior to the deadline did not mean the government was forgoing attempts to be part of the UN.
“There are other ways and we will give out the information next week. Missing the deadline could just mean that we are trying out new ways and not pitching the same bid as last year,” he said.
Presidential Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the Presidential Office had no comment and referred all questions to MOFA.
Diplomacy along with military and cross-strait affairs all fall under the direct jurisdiction of the president.
DPP Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said Taiwan's inaction was a reflection of the government's “diplomatic truce” with China and that the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) unwillingness to push for a UN bid was hardly surprising.
“Ever since the Ma [Ying-jeou (馬英九)] administration came to power last year, Taiwan's diplomacy has been put on hold because they think Taiwan's future is all in China's hands. We are heartbroken to see such an attitude, but we are not surprised,” he said, while demanding that MOFA give the public a clear explanation of its decision as soon as possible.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-lang (蔡煌瑯) said it was a classic example of the Ma administration bowing to China and suspected Taiwan's accession to the World Health Assembly (WHA) this May as an observer was a trade-off for agreeing to drop the annual UN bid.
KMT Legislator Liu Sheng-liang (劉盛良), however, said the recent warming links between Taiwan and China meant it was not essential for Taiwan to lobby for a UN seat and such action would be a mere formality.
In related news, the WHO removed an article on A(H1N1) transmission that referred to Taiwan as “Taiwan (China)” from its Web site.
On Aug. 8, in response to a Taipei Times inquiry on the WHO's Western Pacific Regional Office posting an article referring to Taiwan as “Taiwan (China),” Paul Chang (章文樑), director-general of the Department of International Organization, promised that MOFA would ask the WHO to only refer to Taiwan as “Chinese Taipei,” the name Taiwan uses in the organization since it was granted observer status.
A week later, instead of changing Taiwan's title, the article, which gave detailed information on the flu transmission in Taiwan, was removed.
Chang was not immediately available for comment.
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