Six civic groups for young people launched a signature drive yesterday in support of a campaign initiated by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators to hold a referendum on participating in the UN and the WHO under the name "Taiwan."
The groups included the Taiwan Young Democratic Union, the Taiwan Young Intellectuals, the Ketagalan Academy alumni association and the Taiwan Youth Citizens' Association.
Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), president of the Ketagalan Academy alumni, said young people should recognize that Taiwan would not be able to join the international community if the nation did not take the initiative to correct its title.
sole representative
Gao, one of the DPP legislators who initiated the referendum campaign, said "the Republic of China" is no longer recognized by the international community after the UN passed a resolution in 1971 recognizing the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of China.
"We need to take immediate action to correct the national title and draft a new constitution, as this is the only way for Taiwan to gain UN membership," he said.
Peter Chang (
Chang, who formerly served as the health department's representative in Geneva, where the WHO's headquarters are located, shared with the groups his experience in Taiwan's bid for admission to the WHO.
difficult road
"During the two years I was in Geneva, I saw many answers [to how Taiwan could participate in international organizations], but each one of them was difficult for the nation [to carry out,]" he said.
Twu Shiing-jer (涂醒哲), a former health minister, stressed the need, however, for the nation to persist in its quest for global membership.
"I am worried because if we don't continue to push for participation in the WHO and the UN, we will soon be regarded as China's associate member in the world," Twu said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai