On Oct. 12, the US formally notified UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova that it would withdraw from the organization as an official member state. The US would in the future participate as an observer state.
The US decision to withdraw is an extension of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The problem began in 2011, when UNESCO officially admitted Palestine as a full member state, even though Palestine is formally recognized only as a “non-member state” at the UN.
The admittance of Palestine triggered a 1990 US law (H.R. 3792, Title III, Sec. 414), which prohibits the “appropriation of funds for the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] the same standing as a member state.”
Consequently, the US cut off its funding to UNESCO, which at US$80 million annually accounted for about 22 percent of the organization’s budget. In November 2013, UNESCO suspended the US’ voting rights in its core decisionmaking bodies after the US missed several rounds of payments to the organization.
The loss of voting rights means that the US’ role and influence within UNESCO has been greatly diminished. Without voting rights, the US has in effect been participating in UNESCO as an observer state since 2013. Hence, US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw is more symbolic than substantive.
So what does this have to do with Taiwan? The US law cited above applies only to the PLO and not to Taiwan or other disputed territories. However, the above law was broadened in 1994 with the passage of H.R. 2333, Title IV, Sec. 410.
This law de-emphasized the PLO and stipulates that “the US shall not make any voluntary or assessed contribution to any affiliated organization of the United Nations which grants full membership as a state to any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood.”
It is unclear whether Taiwan is covered under this law, as what constitutes “internationally recognized attributes of statehood” was is not prop.
Taiwan meets all four criteria of the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, namely a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and capacity to enter into relations with the other states. What Taiwan is missing, is the official and explicit recognition from the UN and all but 20 nations in the world that it is an official country.
The answer to this question is critical when Taiwan is seeking membership in the UN and its affiliated organizations.
Under normal circumstances Taiwan’s entry would compel the US to stop paying its fees to whatever UN body it seeks to join, eventually forcing the US to switch from a member state to an observer state. This means Taiwan’s membership would cause collateral damage to the US, Taiwan’s most important diplomatic ally.
This is why it is highly unlikely that the US would vote in favor of Taiwan’s membership in any UN organization, irrespective of China’s forceful protests.
However, these are not normal circumstances.
As Trump has formally withdrawn the US from UNESCO, Taiwan’s membership in the organization would no longer cause harm to the US. This is a subtle, but important change that Taiwan must take advantage of.
Lin Chiu-hsiang is an independent scholar.
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