Twelve of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies on Tuesday sent a joint letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in support of Taiwan’s request to play a more active role in the international organization.
In the letter, the diplomatic allies called on the UN to respond positively to Taiwan’s three demands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The three demands are that the UN practice the principle of true universality by not rejecting Taiwan, that it end measures that prevent Taiwanese from entering UN meetings, and that it include the nation in the organization because of Taiwan’s achievements in realizing UN sustainable development goals.
The letter was accepted by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed of Nigeria and was to be delivered to Guterres later on Tuesday, after the general debate at the General Assembly had concluded on Monday.
The 12 allies that sent the letter were Nauru, Belize, the Marshall Islands, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland, the Solomon Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Burkina Faso, Haiti and El Salvador.
After handing over the joint letter, Lois Michele Young, the permanent representative of Belize to the UN, questioned why Taiwanese could not step inside UN headquarters, as Republic of China (ROC) passport holders enjoy visa-free travel or travel privileges to 165 countries and territories that are all UN members.
There is no reason Taiwan, the world’s 22nd-largest economy, should be excluded from discussions on global affairs, she added.
Sehon Marshall, the permanent representative to the UN of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said he plans to continue to persuade and encourage the UN to lift all restrictions on the ROC.
Three other allies — Nicaragua, Paraguay and Honduras — each sent individual letters to the UN Secretariat on Taiwan’s behalf.
Monsignor Tomasz Grysa, deputy head of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN, was one of 10 allies that signed another joint letter delivered to the UN.
Expressing its gratitude to the nation’s allies for their support, the ministry reiterated its appeal that the UN take action to accept Taiwan’s participation in UN-related organizations.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
Chinese embassy staffers attempted to interrupt an award ceremony of an international tea competition in France when the organizer introduced Taiwan and displayed the Republic of China flag, a Taiwanese tea farmer said in an interview published today. Hsieh Chung-lin (謝忠霖), chief executive of Juxin Tea Factory from Taichung's Lishan (梨山) area, on Dec. 2 attended the Teas of the World International Contest held at the Peruvian embassy in Paris. Hsieh was awarded a special prize for his Huagang Snow Source Tea by the nonprofit Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA). During the ceremony, two Chinese embassy staffers in attendance
RSS