President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) expressed regret yesterday after the UN on Wednesday rejected a proposal to include Taiwan’s request to be allowed to participate in UN agencies on the General Assembly agenda.
While Ma said the government would not give up its efforts to work with the UN and vowed to adopt the “right” strategy, the ministry called on Beijing to display “wisdom and flexibility” with regard to Taiwan’s international space to foster amicable cross-strait relations.
This year Taiwan dropped its bid for UN membership in favor of “meaningful participation” in the activities of UN specialized agencies.
Departing from its usual “two-plus-two” debate format, the assembly’s General Committee allowed a “one-on-one” method that saw the Solomon Islands speaking in favor of Taiwan, touting the nation’s ability and willingness to tackle major global challenges such as food shortages and climate change.
Solomon Island UN Representative Colin Beck said the “one-on-one” speaking order should not set a precedent and the Taiwan issue deserved to be fully deliberated.
Beijing repeated that Taiwan does not qualify to be part of the world body, citing UN Resolution 2758 from 1971 that deemed People’s Republic of China as the the sole legitimate government of China and that Taiwan was part of it.
“We were not surprised. Of course we aimed for the highest and we regret to see such an outcome,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrew Hsia (夏立言) told a press conference yesterday, saying that Taiwan had tried to take a more “pragmatic and flexible” approach to its UN bid.
Hsia declined to say if the ministry felt Beijing had acquiesced to the “diplomatic truce” proposed by Ma, except to say Beijing had taken a “different approach” but stuck to its same old spiel.
“We absolutely cannot accept China’s reasoning. UN Resolution 2758 only applies to the representation of people in China, but does not pertain to the rights of the 23 million people in Taiwan,” he said.
Hsia refuted Beijing’s claim that it has made ample arrangements with international organizations to facilitate Taiwanese participation.
A memorandum of understanding signed by China and WHO Secretariat Office in 2005 states that Taiwan’s attendance at any WHO-sponsored event must be approved by Beijing and that China is the only conduit for Taiwan to receive information from the WHO.
Such an arrangement is unacceptable because it strips Taiwanese experts’ of their dignity and autonomy in deciding what events to attend, Hsia said.
“If China is sincere about watching the rights of the Taiwanese people, then it should face reality and enter a rational negotiation to come up with a win-win solution to benefit Taiwan, itself and the international community,” he said.
Hsia defined “meaningful participation” as Taiwan calling the shots on its level of involvement.
The ministry said this year’s bid gained the support of the US and other major countries. More friendly non-allies are expected to take similar stances in the future, Hsia said.
Meanwhile, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said yesterday that the US has supported Taiwan’s meaningful participation in specialized agencies for a long time because this would be of benefit to the international community.
“The United States has long supported meaningful participation for Taiwan in specialized agencies such as the World Health Organization,” AIT spokesman Thomas Hodges said in a press release. “Such participation would enable the international community to better address pressing global challenges.”
“We continue to work with like-minded countries to help achieve this goal,” he said.
Hodges, however, reiterated that, consistent with the US’ “one China” policy, Washington does not support Taiwan’s membership in organizations that require statehood, such as the UN.
In a meeting with reporters yesterday, Ma said his administration had tried a different approach this year because of the two referendums that were held in conjunction with the presidential election in March on seeking UN membership, both of which failed.
The other reason was that the public has great expectations about Taiwan participating in the international body, he said.
“We are sorry to see our proposal not listed on the agenda,” he said. “We will not give up, no matter whether the effort is made through bilateral or multilateral means.”
When asked by the Taipei Times whose side time is on, given that Beijing appears cool about Taiwan’s yearning for a greater international presence, Ma said: “It depends on how we approach the issue. Time will be on our side if we do it right.”
Ma emphasized that Taiwan’s diplomatic allies and non-allied countries have praised the approach taken this year as “practical.”
It is only detrimental to cross-strait relations if Taiwan continues to be isolated in the international arena, he said.
“I hope both sides can be more creative in formulating a strategy that is acceptable to us both in terms of our international presence so the desire of the Taiwanese people to play a part in the international community can be fulfilled,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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