Taiwanese lawmakers and hundreds of Taiwanese expatriates on Saturday marched in New York City to promote Taiwan’s membership in the UN.
The march followed the opening on Tuesday of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly, and ahead of the start of the annual general debate, which begins tomorrow and runs through Monday next week.
People from expatriate communities in New York City, Boston and Washington started the 3.2km-long march across the street from the office building housing the Chinese Consulate-General and headed toward Dag Hammarskjold Plaza in front of the UN headquarters.
Photo: CNA
New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明), who has participated twice in similar marches promoting UN membership for Taiwan, said China has spared no effort to squeeze Taiwan’s international space and has used its influence to keep the nation out of the world body.
Taiwan will be able to join the UN one day if the nation’s younger generations continue to demand participation in the organization, he said.
Many of the marchers carried flags and banners with slogans supporting Taiwan’s desire to join the UN and expressing opposition to China’s suppression.
Photo: CNA
Led by Hsu and Democratic Progressive Party legislators Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀), Lee Li-feng (李麗芬) and Chen Man-li (陳曼麗), the march passed several New York City landmarks, including Times Square, Grand Central Station and the Chrysler Building.
The marchers shouted slogans, including “Keep Taiwan Free,” “UN for Taiwan” and “Taiwan is Taiwan,” that drew support from onlookers.
The march finished in about 90 minutes, according to event organizer “Keep Taiwan Free,” which put the march’s turnout at about 500.
Because of China’s influence, not only has Taiwan been kept out of the world body, but Republic of China passport holders are not allowed to enter UN headquarters, which the lawmakers said was unfair to Taiwan.
They called on the UN and the international community to support Taiwan, which upholds the values of human rights and democracy, and live up to their commitment as part of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to leave no one behind.
Participation in the UN system is a long-standing goal that the government and the public have worked for as part of Taiwan’s desire to become a constructive member of the international community, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York Director-General Hsu Li-wen (徐儷文) said.
‘ABUSE OF POWER’: Lee Chun-yi allegedly used a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon and take his wife to restaurants, media reports said Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) resigned on Sunday night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by the media. Control Yuan Vice President Lee Hung-chun (李鴻鈞) yesterday apologized to the public over the issue. The watchdog body would follow up on similar accusations made by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and would investigate the alleged misuse of government vehicles by three other Control Yuan members: Su Li-chiung (蘇麗瓊), Lin Yu-jung (林郁容) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮璋), Lee Hung-chun said. Lee Chun-yi in a statement apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a
INDO-PACIFIC REGION: Royal Navy ships exercise the right of freedom of navigation, including in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, the UK’s Tony Radakin told a summit Freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific region is as important as it is in the English Channel, British Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said at a summit in Singapore on Saturday. The remark came as the British Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, the HMS Prince of Wales, is on an eight-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region as head of an international carrier strike group. “Upholding the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and with it, the principles of the freedom of navigation, in this part of the world matters to us just as it matters in the
BEIJING’S ‘PAWN’: ‘We, as Chinese, should never forget our roots, history, culture,’ Want Want Holdings general manager Tsai Wang-ting said at a summit in China The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned Want Want China Times Media Group (旺旺中時媒體集團) for making comments at the Cross-Strait Chinese Culture Summit that it said have damaged Taiwan’s sovereignty, adding that it would investigate if the group had colluded with China in the matter and contravened cross-strait regulations. The council issued a statement after Want Want Holdings (旺旺集團有限公司) general manager Tsai Wang-ting (蔡旺庭), the third son of the group’s founder, Tsai Eng-meng (蔡衍明), said at the summit last week that the group originated in “Chinese Taiwan,” and has developed and prospered in “the motherland.” “We, as Chinese, should never
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
RSS