Marshall Islands President David Kabua on Wednesday urged the UN to put an end to the “shameful silence” on Taiwan’s exclusion from the UN system.
In his 15-minute pre-recorded address to the UN General Assembly in New York City, Kabua said that collective action is needed from all countries, stakeholders and people to ensure a resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The democratic government of Taiwan should be allowed to participate in an equal and dignified manner within the UN system,” Kabua said, adding that this would include the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Photo: AFP
The UN has repeatedly cited General Assembly Resolution 2758 to prevent Taiwan’s inclusion, he said.
“There is absolutely nothing in General Assembly Resolution 2758 which prevents this inclusive approach, and this resolution affords nothing to hide behind, as it expresses no position on Taiwan,” he said.
“As a people-centric institution, the UN cannot ignore the Taiwanese people or continue to use their nationality to exclude them from attending public meetings or public tours at its headquarters. The shameful silence must end,” Kabua said.
The resolution — passed on Oct. 25, 1971 — says that the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate representative of China to the UN, instead of the Republic of China, Taiwan’s official name.
Taipei has over the past few years reiterated its position that the resolution is concerned with the representation of China, not Taiwan, and that it does not describe Taiwan as part of China, nor does it authorize Beijing to represent Taiwan in the UN system.
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei Falla briefly mentioned Taiwan in his address to the General Assembly.
Guatemala believes that Taiwan can provide “experience, capacities and knowledge” to boost multilateralism at a time when the world is facing challenges, he said.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, the third leader of an ally of Taiwan to speak in front of the UN on that day, did not mention Taiwan in his address, marking the sixth consecutive year that the Central American ally did not speak up on behalf of the nation at the General Assembly.
Instead, Honduras sends a letter to the UN secretary-general each year to support Taiwan’s participation in the UN system.
Nauru, an ally of Taiwan in the Pacific, was expected to speak yesterday after press time.
Taiwan left the UN in 1971, and Beijing took its place.
Since then, the nation has been excluded from the General Assembly and other UN agencies.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS