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.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS