Members of the Taiwan United Nations Alliance (TAIUNA) submitted a letter to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday calling on him to apply for UN membership under the name "Taiwan."
With thousands of members, including many former and current political heavyweights, the alliance has strived for UN membership for Taiwan since its creation in 2003.
Its activities include yearly visits to Geneva and New York to lobby UN officials on behalf of the nation, said Ting Le-chin (
"Of the 192 member states in the UN, 17 gained membership under names that differed from those originally used by those countries," she said, explaining the rationale behind the alliance's request.
The UN has consistently denied membership to Taiwan under the title "the Republic of China," every year since 1993, she added.
Speaking at an alliance conference yesterday, former presidential advisor Koo Kwang-ming (
"I have confidence, however, that by applying under the name `Taiwan,' we will be successful this year," Koo said.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and Formosa Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) officials at the event shared Koo's confidence.
"FAPA receives a lot of support in the US Congress, with many congressional representatives siding with us on the issue of applying for membership under the title Taiwan," former FAPA director Chen Jung-ju (
"We have not made any substantial progress since we began lobbying for UN membership. But I think that will change this year," he said.
Established in 1982, FAPA is a Washington-based lobbying group that promotes Taiwanese interests in the US government.
Alliance chair Wei Jui-ming (
"FAPA is helping us to slap down China and promote the national interest," Wei said with a laugh.
The conference yesterday was attended mainly by older members -- a sign that the younger generation might not be sympathetic to the alliance's mission of helping Taiwan gain UN membership, Ting told the Taipei Times.
"Younger people perhaps don't care [about the alliance's objectives], and this is certainly a source of frustration for the alliance," she said.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS