Dozens of Taiwanese-American organizations have joined forces to support President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) plan to apply for UN membership under the name of Taiwan, in preparation for next month's session of the UN General Assembly, at which the nation will be making its 14th consecutive bid to gain membership in the global organization.
"Taiwan is a peace-loving country willing and able to carry out the requisite obligations contained in the UN Charter," the groups said in a letter that was sent to Chen on Tuesday.
"The 23 million people of Taiwan deserve to be represented in this world body," the letter states.
The letter was signed by 56 organizations which represent, according to estimates by an adviser to the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), one of the lead associations involved, as many as 100,000 Taiwanese-Americans.
It comes just two weeks before the start of the 61st annual session of the General Assembly on Sept. 12, where two Taiwan-related resolutions have been introduced by nations friendly to Taiwan, seeking to convince the world body to accept the country into its membership.
The letter said that Chen had stated in his Lunar New Year address this year that the nation should seriously consider using the name Taiwan to apply for UN membership, and that he on Aug. 19 announced his intention to proceed along these lines.
"We congratulate you on your unambiguous and courageous goal," the letter said.
Foreign Affairs Minister James Huang (
Delivering a report to the Central Standing Committee of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on the latest bid for UN membership, Huang said that this year's proposal referred to the country as the "Republic of China (Taiwan)" in the first instance, and thereafter only as "Taiwan."
The proposal addresses the question of the representation and participation of the 23 million people of Taiwan in the UN and requests the inclusion of Taiwan's membership bid as a supplementary item to the agenda of the upcoming session of the General Assembly, he said.
A second proposal, which has been termed the "peace proposal," was also launched, asking the UN to take a more proactive role in maintaining peace and security in East Asia.
Huang said that this diplomatic strategy highlighted Taiwan's sovereignty and was likely to gain the attention of the international media.
However, Huang said that the strategy might be interpreted as a political one and could upset the US or the nation's friends in Europe.
"Therefore, Taiwan's relationship with the US is the major consideration of this new strategy, and the US' relationship with China is the key," Huang said.
Considering the lack of consensus and the US' attitude, Huang said that the two new proposals might have a limited effect.
"In terms of the overall situation, this strategy seems not to be favorable to us," Huang said.
He said that the nation had to come up with new diplomatic initiatives and utilize its advantages such as democracy, advanced technological capabilities, international aid operations and solid education system to help promote diplomatic relations with other countries.
Supporters of Taiwan are planning a series of events in Washington and New York in the runup to the Sept. 12 start of the General Assembly session.
On Sept. 9, Taiwanese Presbyterians will meet at the nation's Washington mansion, Twin Oaks, for a gathering headed by the Reverend William Lo, the former secretary-general of the Taiwan Presbyterian Church, to promote Taiwan's entry into the UN. The gathering is being described as a concert and prayer meeting to promote the membership issue.
On Sept. 11 in New York, several hundred Taiwanese-Americans -- including Aborigines -- and their friends plan to demonstrate in front of the UN building for Taiwan's entry. And the next day, in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza at the UN, demonstrators will protest Taiwan's exclusion from the world body and urge the General Assembly to approve the pro-Taiwan resolutions.
The resolution, titled "The Question of the Representation and Participation of the 23 million People of Taiwan in the United Nations," was sent to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Aug. 10. It was accompanied by a letter signed by 16 countries that recognize Taiwan urging the secretary-general to introduce and support the resolution.
Fourteen of Taiwan's allies in the UN have also sent a letter to Annan urging the adoption of the resolution on East-Asian security, calling it a "peace proposal."
In previous years, such resolutions dealt specifically with peace in the Taiwan Strait, but the idea was expanded this year to cover the entire region.
The UN Secretariat had the two resolutions translated into six languages: English, Chinese, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS