A Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokesman yesterday slammed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for remarks on Taiwan's application for UN membership that he said sounded like the words of a Chinese official.
MOFA spokesman David Wang (
The UN Secretariat turned down President Chen Shui-bian's (
Approached for comment at a press conference in California on Friday, Ban defended his rejection of the application, citing UN Resolution 2758 as "clearly mentioning that the government of China is the sole and legitimate government and the position of the United Nations is that Taiwan is part of China."
"The position of the United Nations is that the People's Republic of China represents the whole of China as the sole and legitimate representative government of China," Ban was quoted as saying at the press conference.
Wang said that Ban had overstepped his authority as the body's secretary-general by personally rejecting Taiwan's application instead of submitting it for deliberation by the UN member states.
Wang also said Ban had overinterpreted Resolution 2758.
"Ban's remarks on Resolution 2758 made him sound like he is China's foreign minister," Wang said.
"He sounds like he is China's permanent representative to the UN rather than the UN secretary-general," he said.
"That resolution does not address the issue of representation for the population of Taiwan at the world body," he said.
"It was not only Taiwan's allies that disagreed with Ban's interpretation. Information also indicates that the US disagrees with it," he said.
Wang said the ministry would hold a press conference today and announce a new strategy to reapply for UN membership in September.
"The MOFA will take actions to defend Taiwan's right to participate in the international community," Wang said. "Minister [James] Huang (
"Holding a referendum might be one direction," Wang said.
"We believe that both process and outcome are important. But most importantly, it [a referendum] would be a reflection of the Taiwanese public's voice -- although this is a difficult mission," he said.
Taiwan will continue requesting help from its allies in conveying its desire to join the UN, he said.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS