Wrapping up their visit to Taiwan yesterday, six ambassadors to the UN -- all from nation's allied with Taipei -- vowed to continue their support of Taiwan's bid to re-enter the UN, despite obstructions from Beijing.
"Justice will prevail," Jose Roberto Andino-Salazar, ambassador and permanent representative of El Salvador to the UN, said of Taiwan's bid to re-enter the world body.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"We are the true friends of Taiwan ... and you can be assured that we won't be intimidated by any country," Andino-Salazar added.
Eduardo J. Sevilla Somoza, ambassador and permanent representative of Nicaragua to the UN, said the UN would be an "incomplete puzzle" without the representation of Taiwan.
Demonstrating his support, the Nicaraguan ambassador, son of former acting Nicaraguan president Guillermo Sevilla Savasa, who was instrumental in forging ties between Taiwan and Nicaragua, brought with him the photo of his father and late Taiwan President Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) when meeting with the Chinese ambassador to the UN for the first time in New York last year.
"I wanted to show him where I came from," the 48-year-old Nicaraguan ambassador said.
Wrapping up his first trip to Taiwan, Somoza said he felt energized after landing in Taiwan, adding he would continue to assist Taipei with its bid to re-enter the UN.
Crispin Grey-Johnson, Gambia's ambassador to the UN, said "persistent efforts" were to be expected before Taiwan could re-enter the UN or take part in various agencies under the UN umbrella.
Grey-Johnson added that despite China's objections, "We will work hard in achieving that goal."
The Gambian ambassador said that Taiwan's bid to re-enter the UN would "take time," adding that achieving this goal would depend on Taipei's ability to expand its group of friends at the UN.
Pedro Padilla Tonos, ambassador as well as permanent representative of the Dominican Republic to the UN, echoed his Gambian counterpart.
"We will continue working, fighting, insisting on the right of the 23 million people of Taiwan to re-enter the UN," Tonos said.
Jean Alexandre, Haiti's ambassador to the UN, also voiced his support for Taiwan's UN bid.
Meanwhile, when asked whether the African Union, a new group created to formally replace the Organization of African Unity, would adopt a common foreign policy, such as a "one China" policy, at its meeting in July, African ambassadors ruled out the possibility.
"What [ties] each African state establishes with countries outside of Africa remains in the hands of each respective African state," said Malawi Ambassador to the UN Isaac C. Lamba.
The policy toward China or Taiwan would be left up to individual states, Lamba added.
The ambassadors made the statements at the foreign ministry yesterday.
In 1971, the delegation of the ROC, Taiwan's formal designation, walked out of the UN just before other members voted to give its seat to the PRC.
Taiwan's 9th bid to re-enter the UN faltered last August. Beijing is apparently increasing its maneuvers to block Taiwan's bid again this year.
Currently, 186 UN members recognize Beijing while 28 recognize Taipei.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS