A pro-Taiwanese independence civic group embarked yesterday on a weeklong journey to New York City to advocate the country’s right to bid for UN membership under the name Taiwan.
At a press conference held in Taipei yesterday before their departure, the group said “the annual trip to New York marks a continued effort by the people of Taiwan since 1979 to express their wish to be recognized by the UN.”
Taiwan has not been represented since 1971, when the Republic of China withdrew from the UN after a resolution ruled that the People’s Republic of China was the only legitimate representative of China to the international body. Since 1993, Taiwan’s annual bid to have the world body consider its full membership in the organization has failed because of opposition from Beijing.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
In 2008, the administration under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) announced that it would give up making a formal bid through its diplomatic allies.
Earlier last month, Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) outlined the government’s approach to participation in UN specialized agencies instead of applying for full UN membership. He said the strategy was in line with Ma’s policies of flexible diplomacy.
The Taiwan United Nations Alliance yesterday criticized the Ma administration’s current UN policy as jeopardizing Taiwan’s sovereignty and its people, leaving the nation “an international orphan.”
The group is scheduled to stage a rally in New York, where the 65th UN General Assembly began on Tuesday, in which it will deliver speeches and distribute fliers in support of full UN membership for Taiwan.
The group is scheduled to return to Taiwan Sept. 25
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
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REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
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