US officials who visited Taiwan earlier this week met with foreign representatives and told them that UN Resolution 2758 does not involve Taiwan nor should it be conflated with China’s “one China” principle, sources said yesterday.
UN Resolution 2758 recognized the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China in 1971. Beijing has been misrepresenting it to exclude Taiwan from the international organization and its affiliates.
A representative to Taiwan, requesting anonymity, quoted the US officials as saying during a meeting that as long as it is not specified in UN Resolution 2758, “everything is feasible” with regard to Taiwan pursuing a breakthrough in its external relations.
Photo: Reuters
Another representative to Taiwan, who also wished to remain anonymous, said that the US government would vary its approaches to help Taiwan build ties.
For example, the US could play the role of intermediary with countries that have a US embassy and a Taiwanese embassy or representative office, to help reinforce the relationships between Taiwan and these countries or develop multilateral relationships, the representative said.
Two US deputy assistant secretaries of state visited Taiwan on Thursday, without attracting the media’s attention, both sources said.
They met with foreign representatives to Taiwan to discuss how to increase the nation’s international participation and boost its collaboration with countries in the region, the sources said.
The meeting was attended by representatives from Taiwan’s 12 allies, as well as those from other like-minded nations, including Australia, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, the EU, Finland, France, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Poland and the UK, the sources said.
Mark Lambert, deputy assistant secretary at the US Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, on May 29 condemned China for mischaracterizing the resolution and “wrongly asserts that it reflects an international consensus for its ‘one China’ principle.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not comment yesterday on the reported meeting between US officials and foreign representatives in Taiwan.
However, it said in a news release that the Taiwan-US working group on international organization issues was held in Taipei on Friday.
Constructive discussions were had about how to assist Taiwan in engaging in the UN system and other international organizations, the ministry said.
It said it deeply appreciates the US’ firm support for Taiwan’s engagement in the world.
The US recognized Taiwan’s excellent capabilities and ability to assist with the emerging challenges facing public health, food security, flight safety and climate change, and said it would support Taiwan to meaningfully participate in the UN system, including the WHO and International Civil Aviation Organization, the ministry said.
The US and Taiwan agreed to continue to collaborate closely and use creative approaches to consolidate international support, it added.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
Taiwan must invest in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to keep abreast of the next technological leap toward automation, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at the luanch ceremony of Taiwan AI and Robots Alliance yesterday. The world is on the cusp of a new industrial revolution centered on AI and robotics, which would likely lead to a thorough transformation of human society, she told an event marking the establishment of a national AI and robotics alliance in Taipei. The arrival of the next industrial revolution could be a matter of years, she said. The pace of automation in the global economy can
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
RSS