Exclusion of anyone harms efforts to achieve global development goals, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Friday when asked about Taiwan’s bid for UN participation.
World leaders are to meet next week at the annual high-level UN General Assembly, but Taiwan is excluded under a 1971 UN resolution that recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the legitimate representative of China to the UN.
Leaders are also to attend a summit on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals — a global “to-do” list created in 2015 that includes issues such as tackling the climate crisis, achieving gender equality and ending hunger and poverty.
Photo: Reuters
“I think exclusion of anyone holds back the goals,” Mohammed told reporters on Friday. “We said leave no one behind, and I think member states have to find a way to make sure that we are not in that position where we’re excluding people.”
“Every person matters, whether it’s Taiwan or otherwise, and I think it’s really important for member states to find a solution,” she said.
Asked about her remarks, China’s UN mission referred to a statement by Chinese Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun (張軍) on Thursday.
“The so-called Taiwan’s participation in the UN is a false narrative through and through. First, there is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory,” Zhang said.
The 1971 resolution replaced the then-government of the Republic of China that had fled to Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War.
Proponents of Taiwan say the resolution never ruled out Taiwan’s participation.
UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said the UN upholds the “one China” policy, adding: “We don’t intend to leave any of the people of China behind and we support all of the people of China, but we stick by the one China policy.”
Later on Thursday, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York issued a statement in objection.
“The Republic of China (Taiwan) is an independent and sovereign democratic state,” it said. “Only Taiwan’s democratically elected government can represent its 23.5 million people in the UN system and the international community. The government of the PRC has no right to a say in the matter.”
Taiwan has long called on the UN to admit it as a member.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) told Foreign Policy in an interview on Thursday that it would be “very hard” for Taiwan to achieve membership, but that there was still hope.
“I think there is growing attention from the international community that there has to be peace between Taiwan and China and the best forum to discuss this issue will be the United Nations,” Wu said. ”So, keeping Taiwan out of the United Nations is immoral, is unjust and is something that we have to make change to.”
Representative to New Zealand Joanne Ou (歐江安) called on Wellington to support Taiwan’s bid for UN inclusion, saying that the UN “can serve as a platform to facilitate dialogue, de-escalate tensions and promote peace, if it can live up to its charter principles.”
In a letter published in The Post newspaper on Thursday, she said New Zealand’s first National Security Strategy indicated that Taiwan was a potential flashpoint and that New Zealand has a direct interest in the area.
“Taiwan has proven itself to be a reliable stakeholder and a capable contributor,” she wrote. “There is still time to prevent another invasion. Including 23.5 million Taiwanese people into the UN system is the first step.”
Representative to Indonesia John Chen (陳忠) on Friday wrote on local media platforms Medcom and Okezone that Jarkata and other nations should support Taiwan’s entry into the UN.
Taiwan is essential to global peace and security, the main producer of the world’s semiconductors, a port of call for half of all shipping cargo and a key link in global supply chains, he said.
A conflict in the Taiwan Strait would be a catastrophe for the glbal economy, he said, adding that the UN should act on the motto of its Sustainable Development Group: “Leave no one behind.”
Additional reporting by Yang Cheng-yu and CNA
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
SOLUTIONS NEEDED: Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers due to population decline, the minister of economic affairs said in Washington President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration is considering a plan to import labor to deal with an impending shortage of engineers and other highly skilled workers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in Washington on Tuesday. Kuo was leading a delegation attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high-end manufacturing jobs by 2040, he said. Ministry of Economic Affairs officials are still calculating the precise number of workers that are needed, as it works on loosening immigration restrictions and creating incentives, Kuo said. Taiwanese firms operating factories in the US and other countries would