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Allies accuse Ban of violating UN protocol

Taiwan's diplomatic allies Palau, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands and El Savaldor submitted letters to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Security Council President Pascal Gayama on Friday expressing their disapproval of the UN's rejection of Taiwan's application for UN membership under the name "Taiwan," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

The allies' ambassadors to the UN added their signatures to the letters, dated Aug. 2, and sent copies to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and representatives of member states in the security council, a ministry press release said. The letters request that Taiwan's application be processed "appropriately," the ministry said in a statement.

Chen sent a membership application letter to Ban on July 19, but the letter was returned by Ban on July 23 based on Resolution 2758, which UN officials said is the basis of the "one China" policy at the UN.

SECOND ATTEMPT

Chen sent another letter to Ban on July 31 urging him to reconsider his decision. Ban, who is on a visit to Haiti and Barbados, has not made an official response to Chen's second letter, although Farhan Haq, associate spokesman for the secretary-general, said on Friday that the second letter would also be returned and that the UN's position remained unchanged.

Critics of the move have contested Ban's legal authority in rejecting the application unilaterally without submitting it to the UN General Assembly for a debate and vote by UN members, a part of the application process that is not ruled out by Resolution 2758.

VIOLATION

In their letters, the allies accuse the UN Secretariat of violating UN protocol by not submitting Taiwan's application to the security council and the general assembly for review.

Palau, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, the Solomon Islands and El Savaldor are among Taiwan's staunchest allies, consistently advocating UN and WHO membership for the country.

"Our government expresses its sincerest gratitude to our allies for their help and support," the release said.

Meanwhile, Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), a US-based pro-independence Taiwanese expatriate group, on Friday also voiced strong protest against Ban's decision not to process Taiwan's application for membership.

FACTS

In a letter addressed to Ban, FAPA president C.T. Lee (李青泰) rejected Ban's argument that the UN takes the position that "Taiwan is part of China" under Resolution 2758 adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971.

"This is contrary to the facts: If you read Resolution 2758 carefully, you will see that it does not even mention Taiwan," Lee said.

Under the resolution, the UN decided to recognize the representatives of the People's Republic of China as the only legitimate representatives of China to the UN and "to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it."

Lee said that the issue addressed in the resolution was "which government represented China" and that it is wrong to equate the "representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" with Taiwan.

"Chiang and his representatives were not expelled in 1971 because they represented Taiwan. They were expelled because they claimed to represent China," Lee said.

TREATY

On Taiwan's status, Lee referred Ban to the San Francisco Peace Treaty, in which Japan formally ceded sovereignty over Taiwan.

Lee pointed out that delegates at the San Francisco conference concurred that the status of Taiwan needed to be determined "in due time, in accord with the purposes and principles as laid down in the Charter of the United Nations."

Urging Ban to reconsider his position, Lee said Taiwan is a democratic nation that fulfills all the criteria for a nation-state as defined in the 1933 Montevideo Convention.
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