Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) has called for Taiwan’s inclusion in the UN framework to help ensure peace in the region, as the world body is slated to begin its 78th session of the general assembly on Tuesday next week.
“Together we are stronger. It is time to act on this fundamental principle, including Taiwan,” Wu wrote in an op-ed published on Saturday on the Italian news site Le Formiche.
The UN Charter, which states that international disputes should be settled peacefully, has helped maintain the rules-based international order since the end of the Cold War, he said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
As evident in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, war in a globalized world brings global consequences, he said.
“It is therefore imperative to prevent similar threats to global security from occurring elsewhere,” he added, referring to China’s threats against Taiwan.
The People’s Republic of China, which has never governed Taiwan, has refused to renounce the use of force against its neighbor to annex it, he said.
Photo: AFP
China “has become increasingly aggressive, flexing its military muscle to intimidate Taiwan” by sending warplanes and ships into areas near Taiwan, as well as through disinformation campaigns and economic coercion, Wu said.
In addition to Taiwan, China has been expanding its power in the East and South China seas, he said, citing examples of Beijing signing a security agreement with the Solomon Islands and securing ports for potential military use in the Indian Ocean.
“Ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is in everyone’s interest” as half of the world’s commercial container traffic passes through the Strait every day and Taiwan is a major producer of semiconductors, he said.
The international community has repeatedly emphasized the importance of cross-strait peace and stability, he said, adding that “the best way to do so requires inclusion, dialogue and, above all, unity.”
Taiwan is willing and able to be a part of the UN to tackle pressing issues through global discourse, but was excluded due to China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758, he said.
That resolution does not affirm that Taiwan is a part of the People’s Republic of China, nor does it give Beijing the right to represent the people of Taiwan within the UN, Wu said, adding that the resolution only addressed China’s representation in the UN.
“The subsequent misrepresentation of Resolution 2758 contradicts the fundamental principles upheld by the UN Charter and must be rectified,” he said.
Wu urged the UN to “act as a champion of progress” by including Taiwan, which would “demonstrate the determination of the UN to unite for global peace at a critical moment when the future of the world is at stake.”
He said that the UN could start by allowing Taiwanese individuals and journalists to attend UN meetings, and permit Taiwan’s meaningful participation in efforts related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which would benefit the world.
TPP RALLY: The clashes occurred near the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall on Saturday at a rally to mark the anniversary of a raid on former TPP chairman Ko Wen-je People who clashed with police at a Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) rally in Taipei on Saturday would be referred to prosecutors for investigation, said the Ministry of the Interior, which oversees the National Police Agency. Taipei police had collected evidence of obstruction of public officials and coercion by “disorderly” demonstrators, as well as contraventions of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), the ministry said in a statement on Sunday. It added that amid the “severe pushing and jostling” by some demonstrators, eight police officers were injured, including one who was sent to hospital after losing consciousness, allegedly due to heat stroke. The Taipei
NO LIVERPOOL TRIP: Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, who won a gold medal in the boxing at the Paris Olympics, was embroiled in controversy about her gender at that event Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) will not attend this year’s World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England, due to a lack of response regarding her sex tests from the organizer, World Boxing. The national boxing association on Monday said that it had submitted all required tests to World Boxing, but had not received a response as of Monday, the departure day for the championships. It said the decision for Lin to skip the championships was made to protect its athletes, ensuring they would not travel to the UK without a guarantee of participation. Lin, who won a gold medal in the women’s 57kg boxing
The US has revoked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) authorization to freely ship essential gear to its main Chinese chipmaking base, potentially curtailing its production capabilities at that older-generation facility. American officials recently informed TSMC of their decision to end the Taiwanese chipmaker’s so-called validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing site. The action mirrors steps the US took to revoke VEU designations for China facilities owned by Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc. The waivers are set to expire in about four months. “TSMC has received notification from the US Government that our VEU authorization for TSMC Nanjing
CHINESE INCURSIONS, SORTIES: President William Lai thanked military officers for shouldering the responsibility of defending the survival and development of Taiwan President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday said that aggression would inevitably fail, pointing — on the day before a mass military parade in Beijing — to the lessons from World War II and key victories Taiwan claims against Chinese forces in 1958. Taiwan has over the past five years repeatedly complained about heightened Chinese military activity including war games around the nation as Beijing steps up pressure to enforce territorial claims that Taipei rejects. Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), flanked by Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, are to oversee a military parade in Beijing today to mark the
RSS