Hundreds of Taiwanese living in the US on Saturday joined a Taiwanese delegation in a march in New York City, calling for Taiwan to be granted UN membership ahead of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly that begins tomorrow.
Taiwan United Nations Alliance president Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) said he is thankful for the participation of Taiwanese-American youth in the march, adding that their appeal this year was covered by various media outlets including CBS, the New York Times, Germany’s Deutsche Welle, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and various outlets in Japan.
“This reveals how moved world media is by the will of Taiwanese,” Tsai said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwanese American Association of New York member and Outreach for Taiwan cofounder Jenny Wang (汪采羿) said she hopes the world will become more familiar with Taiwan through this year’s protests, the largest to date, adding that participation in the UN and its associated organizations would earn Taiwan the international recognition that it deserves.
Wang said that as a second-generation Taiwanese-American she is proud of her Taiwanese heritage and believes that most Taiwanese-Americans identify as Taiwanese and not Chinese.
Protesters carried flags and chanted slogans such as “Keep Taiwan free” and “UN for Taiwan” as they walked from One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza to Times Square.
Participants included Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kolas Yotaka, New Power Party Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) and former Dominican Republic ambassador to Taiwan Manuel Felix.
The alliance said that its request to visit the UN building was denied and they were told that Taiwan “is not a UN member country; it is not a country.”
There have also been media reports that Taiwanese passport holders were denied entry into the UN building despite having the option of choosing “Taiwan” when purchasing entry tickets online.
Tsai said China’s bullying of Taiwan makes no distinction between politics and otherwise, citing the need for Taiwanese to show multiple forms of identification when observing WHA sessions of the WHO, despite other visitors requiring only a passport.
Alliance vice director Tseng Tsung-kai (曾琮愷) said that alliance members were able to observe the UN session and were even assigned a guide last year, adding that an official in the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office confirmed that the denial this year was due to interference from China.
Tseng said that Taiwan must stand up for its rights, speaking about the blocking of Taiwan’s participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization by China.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the UN has been denying Taiwanese passport holders entry since November last year under pressure from China, and called the action unjust and a violation of universal values, adding that it has voiced protests with the UN and demanded the latter cease denying entry to Taiwanese.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all