A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator said yesterday the party opposed the government’s plan to apply for “meaningful” participation in UN agencies.
DPP Legislator Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) told a press conference yesterday that if the government applied to become a member of the UN’s 15 agencies, it would use the name “Taiwan region, the Republic of China,” which he said would seriously downgrade the nation’s status.
He said President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) approach to join international organizations would give the international community the impression that Taiwan is part of China.
The lawmaker said that while the former DPP administration had used a different approach in its UN bids, the Ma administration had changed the policy and only sought participation in agencies.
He said the new approach had confused the nation’s allies about how to help Taiwan in its bid during the General Assembly.
Pan said Ma’s weak approach could avert “angering” China, but it would seriously hurt the country, something Taiwanese would never accept.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday it was lobbying hard for the nation’s bid to participate in UN agencies, with a decision by the UN General Committee possibly coming as early as tomorrow.
“The ministry is paying close attention to the bid and is vigorously lobbying [for support],” ministry spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) told a press conference.
Chen refused to comment on the possible outcome of the latest diplomatic initiative, but said that how it plays out would be a barometer of the relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait as well as Taiwan’s international image and status.
With the General Committee scheduled to begin meeting at 10am today, ministry officials will stay up all night to closely monitor the situation, Chen said.
“We will have a comprehensive statement regarding the result of this year’s UN bid on Thursday morning,” Chen said.
The length of time spent debating the nation’s UN bid was considered by the DPP administration as an indication of how much the country’s efforts were valued in the international community.
The General Committee, which comprises delegates from 28 countries, will render its decision today on what will be put on the agenda for the 63rd UN General Assembly, which opened yesterday.
This year’s bid is also departs from previous efforts in other respects.
Three of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — Nicaragua, the Solomon Islands and Honduras — are sitting on of the General Committee, the nation’s highest number of allies on the committee since 1993.
Taiwan has not been a member of the UN since 1971, after the People’s Republic of China took the China seat from the Republic of China.
Over the past 15 years, Taiwan has failed to get the General Assembly to list the issue of Taiwan’s membership on the agenda because of obstruction by Beijing.
Chen said that this year, the ministry had sent Lily Hsu (徐儷文), deputy director-general of the Department of International Organizations, and a senior ambassador to lead its lobbying team.
The team will continue to promote the bid to the very end, he said.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS