Congressmen and Taiwanese-Americans raised their voices in support of Taiwan's bid to join the UN this week in speeches to the US House of Representatives and letters to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
And Taiwanese-Americans were planning rallies in three US cities on the issue.
Three congressmen inserted remarks in the official Congressional Record on Thursday backing UN membership and criticizing Ban for his rejection of two applications from Taiwan for General Assembly action on its entry bid.
Colorado Representative Tom Tancredo argued against US President George W. Bush's position opposing Taiwan's UN entry. Ticking off Taiwan's democratic attributes, he said: "One would think that Taiwan's efforts to engage the international community would be welcomed and applauded by most everybody."
Taking issue with fellow Republican Bush, Tancredo faulted the US "one China" policy as "irrational and outdated."
"President Bush should live up to the promise he made in his inaugural address, `when you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you,' and support Taiwan's bid to join the UN," he said. "Taiwan is by all measures a sovereign and independent nation and I hope the United States and other free nations of the world will finally muster the courage to stand up and say so."
Representative G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina complained that Taiwan's "23 million people have been deprived of their fundamental human rights," by not being in the UN.
"It is now time to remedy this situation," Butterfield said.
He said that to reject Taiwan's membership based on Resolution 2758 is a "flawed" argument because "it fails to recognize the fact that Taiwan is a sovereign government with its own national flag, Constitution, armed forces and is recognized by more than 20 independent nations."
"Even more importantly, the people of Taiwan have authorized their leader, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), to express to the world the desire of Taiwan to belong to this important world body," he said.
Representative Bill Sali of Idaho urged the UN Secretariat to pass the application to the General Assembly membership for a vote. The UN Office of Legal Affairs' contention that the resolution settled China's jurisdiction over Taiwan is "anachronistic" and "a dubious assertion," he said.
"It is unreasonable to claim that the PRC [People's Republic of China] presumes to speak for a land and people over which it has no control," Sali said. "If the United Nations is founded on the principle of the equality of sovereign nations, it has no reason not to recognize Taiwan as an independent nation."
Meanwhile, more than 20 major Taiwanese-American and allied groups on Thursday sent a letter to Ban that urged him to forward Taiwan's application to the Security Council and General Assembly, which, the letter said, are the only UN organs under UN rules authorized to review and decide on UN membership applications.
"To exclude Taiwan on the basis of Resolution 2758 is dishonest and unconscionable," the letter said.
"The sovereignty of Taiwan is not an issue [in the resolution] ... Resolution 2758 does not substantiate the spurious claim that Taiwan is part of China," the letter said, noting that "freely and democratically elected" Chen has "clearly stated that Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country. His application for UN membership, on behalf of the people of Taiwan, should be accepted, discussed and approved."
Among the associations signing the letter were the World Taiwanese Congress, the World United Formosans for Independence-USA, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, the Formosan Association for Human Rights, the Taiwanese Association of America and several Taiwanese professional, academic and Hakka organizations.
At the same time, several Taiwanese-American groups were planning rallies in support of Taiwan's bid to join the UN, one in Los Angeles yesterday while the others will be in Houston next Friday and New York next Saturday.
Also see story:
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
REGIONAL STABILITY: Taipei thanked the Biden administration for authorizing its 16th sale of military goods and services to uphold Taiwan’s defense and safety The US Department of State has approved the sale of US$228 million of military goods and services to Taiwan, the US Department of Defense said on Monday. The state department “made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale” to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US for “return, repair and reshipment of spare parts and related equipment,” the defense department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a news release. Taiwan had requested the purchase of items and services which include the “return, repair and reshipment of classified and unclassified spare parts for aircraft and related equipment; US Government
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from