Taiwan should take advantage of its participation in various nongovernmental organizations (NGO) to promote the nation's image and value to the international community, academics and officials said yesterday.
The panelists made the remarks at a forum hosted by the Taiwan Peace Foundation to discuss the nation's diplomatic role through participation in NGO activities.
precedents
They also shared their experiences in joining the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict (GPPAC), an organization dedicated to peacebuilding worldwide.
The GPPAC initiative was launched by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan in 2002, with more than 100 international NGOs from 15 regions joining the body using the name of their respective cities.
Taiwan joined the GPPAC under the name Taipei.
Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong are China's representatives in the organization.
values
Chen Jau-hua (陳瑤華), an associate professor at Soochow University's department of philosophy who was at the GPPAC conference in North Korea last year, said that although China may seem to have the upper hand in the international scene, Taiwan offers more values that international communities can identify with.
winning respect
"As long as Taiwan can find advantageous issues to work on and we can contribute our ideas, such as on the issue of nuclear weapons development in Northeast Asia, we can still win the respect of our international friends," Chen said.
Jeffrey Wang (王志發), executive secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Committee for NGO Affairs, told the forum that China represented the biggest threat and obstacle in Taiwan's move to find its place in the international community.
chinese pressure
"China has squeezed Taiwan's international space, not just by suppressing its bid to join the UN but also by blocking from participating in all types of NGO activities," Wang said.
Yan Jiann-fa (
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