On July 18, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched an advertising campaign supporting Taiwan’s bid for meaningful participation in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It is therefore a timely moment to assess Taiwan’s drive for meaningful participation in another UN body, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
There are three reasons why little progress has been made in the three years since Taiwan formally sought official participation in the UNFCCC.
First, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) remains adamantly opposed to Taiwan’s engagement with the UN — this has been the case for the past 40 years and will remain so for the foreseeable future.
Second, the UNFCCC is not an “organization,” but a political body that pits developing countries against developed countries over the issue of who is responsible for causing and addressing climate change. Similar to the situation at the Doha Development Round of the WTO, the negotiation process involved is mired in a complex deadlock and most experts agree that there is little chance of a binding treaty, despite the ambitious timeline set forth in the COP17 document, which states that an outcome is to be adopted no later than 2015 and should come into effect from 2020.
Given the difficulty the developed world faces trying to get large developing countries such as India, Brazil and especially China — the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter — to commit to emissions reductions, it is unlikely that the international community will be sympathetic to Taiwan’s cause.
Last, the UNFCCC’s structure does not allow for “observers,” which is how Taiwan participated in the World Health Assembly (WHA). As such, a special exception would need to be granted for Taiwan’s participation. Besides the difficulties in actually achieving observer status for Taiwan, there is also the question surrounding the meaningfulness of this status.
With the benefit of hindsight, Taiwan should perhaps have sought to join the lesser-known World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to address its climate concerns instead of the more “fashionable” UNFCCC. There are three reasons why Taiwan should have sought to participate in the premier institution for meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences within the UN system.
First, Taiwan’s technical excellence in meteorology makes it an outstanding candidate for WMO inclusion. Taiwan is a leader in the application and analysis of radar data and has one of the most advanced typhoon surveillance systems in the Asia-Pacific region.
Second, the WMO is a specialized agency of the UN like the WHO, the ICAO and UNESCO.
As such, it undertakes many programmatic activities that Taiwan could engage in as an observer. Being able to participate in these workshops, projects and programs is precisely what will make Taiwan’s observer status meaningful.
Last, and possibly most importantly, the WMO’s structure allows observers to participate in a way similar to how Taiwan participated in the WHA.
This is crucial because only three of 15 specialized agencies of the UN are structured this way (the other two agencies are the WHO and ICAO). It would be prudent for Taiwan to seek participation in all three agencies where this model can be applied.
Taiwan’s entry into the WMO will remain very challenging due to the PRC’s steadfast opposition. Furthermore, there is also the issue of strategic approach.
Should Taiwan seek to participate in several UN bodies at once (a parallel process) or should it wait for a positive outcome in the UNFCCC and ICAO before seeking to participate in other UN bodies (a sequential process)?
Each approach has its merits and flaws, but regardless of the method chosen, it will be interesting to see if President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policy of viable diplomacy will lead to any breakthroughs in the context of international participation in the second term of his presidency.
I-Chun Hsiao is a commentator based in Washington and Jerry I-Hsuan Hsiao is a commentator based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
There is much evidence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — and is learning lessons for a future war against Taiwan. Until now, the CCP has claimed that they have not sent PLA personnel to support Russian aggression. On 18 April, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskiy announced that the CCP is supplying war supplies such as gunpowder, artillery, and weapons subcomponents to Russia. When Zelinskiy announced on 9 April that the Ukrainian Army had captured two Chinese nationals fighting with Russians on the front line with details
On a quiet lane in Taipei’s central Daan District (大安), an otherwise unremarkable high-rise is marked by a police guard and a tawdry A4 printout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicating an “embassy area.” Keen observers would see the emblem of the Holy See, one of Taiwan’s 12 so-called “diplomatic allies.” Unlike Taipei’s other embassies and quasi-consulates, no national flag flies there, nor is there a plaque indicating what country’s embassy this is. Visitors hoping to sign a condolence book for the late Pope Francis would instead have to visit the Italian Trade Office, adjacent to Taipei 101. The death of
By now, most of Taiwan has heard Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an’s (蔣萬安) threats to initiate a vote of no confidence against the Cabinet. His rationale is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)-led government’s investigation into alleged signature forgery in the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) recall campaign constitutes “political persecution.” I sincerely hope he goes through with it. The opposition currently holds a majority in the Legislative Yuan, so the initiation of a no-confidence motion and its passage should be entirely within reach. If Chiang truly believes that the government is overreaching, abusing its power and targeting political opponents — then
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), joined by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), held a protest on Saturday on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei. They were essentially standing for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is anxious about the mass recall campaign against KMT legislators. President William Lai (賴清德) said that if the opposition parties truly wanted to fight dictatorship, they should do so in Tiananmen Square — and at the very least, refrain from groveling to Chinese officials during their visits to China, alluding to meetings between KMT members and Chinese authorities. Now that China has been defined as a foreign hostile force,
RSS