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No plans to file ICJ suit: official

The Presidential Office dismissed reports yesterday that Taiwan plans to take its case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague if its bid for UN membership is rejected again this year.

Presidential Office Spokesman David Lee (李南陽) yesterday said there was no plan to take the case to the ICJ at the moment because the administration is making every effort to promote the nation's application for UN membership.

The office said the nation is considering all options in its push for UN membership, adding that although some academics had suggested Taiwan take its case to the ICJ, "the matter will be discussed later."

The Chinese-language China Times reported that the government has several contingency plans for its bid.

Officials at the office said that a motion on the nation's UN membership application endorsed by 16 of the country's diplomatic allies would be discussed and put to a vote in the General Committee -- which will set the agenda for the 62nd session of the UN General Assembly -- yesterday at the earliest.

The newspaper said that if the nation suffered another setback, it would take its case to the ICJ, a UN-affiliated agency.

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday that taking the case to the ICJ could complicate the nation's struggle if the court were to rule against Taiwan.

Lu, who has also proposed going to the ICJ if the UN rejects Taiwan's application again, added that filing a lawsuit at the court would be one means to push for membership. The government should not ignore any possibility to let the world hear the voice of Taiwan, she said.

Since the court is an affiliate of the UN, however, Lu said she was concerned that the court might rule against Taiwan, further complicating the nation's struggle for entry to the body.

She also called on politicians across party lines to refrain from bickering over the UN bid and work together to hold a referendum next year on joining the UN.

As to the name the nation uses in its applications to the UN, it should be left to the next president, Lu said.

Jordan Paust, a professor of international law at the University of Houston in Texas, made a similar proposal last Thursday during a forum organized by the Taiwanese Society of International Law and the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.

Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday said the government must thoroughly assess the idea before taking the case to the ICJ.

Wang said the government should consider whether the nation would "lose the whole game" if the court rejected the case, since the ruling would be cited thereafter whenever the issue of Taiwan's sovereignty or international participation arose in the international community, Wang said.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday called on the government to focus its efforts on improving the economy.

"The most important thing in Taiwan is improving people's living standards -- not filing a lawsuit with the international court," Ma said.

Accusing the DPP of trying to fool the public, KMT Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) said there was no chance the court would agree to hear the case because Taiwan is not a member of the UN

DPP Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a press conference on behalf of the party caucus that the DPP would support taking the bid to the ICJ if, after an assessment, it believed it would help the nation.

Hsiao said she hoped the independence of the ICJ would not be compromised by politics.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan,

Flora Wang and Mo Yan-chih
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