Taiwan will launch its 12th bid to enter the UN at the 59th UN General Assembly session, demanding the UN's recognition of representatives of Taiwan's 23 million people in the body, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) announced yesterday.
The UN General Assembly session is scheduled to open Sept. 14 at UN headquarters in New York.
Despite the successive failures of each of Taiwan's bids since 1993, Chen said the nation would continue efforts to re-enter the UN. Taiwan was expelled from the UN in 1971 after a majority of nations shifted recognition to the People's Republic of China (PRC).
The present cross-strait tensions would be greatly relieved if Taiwan was properly represented in the world body, Chen said at a press conference. He said the UN had failed the spirit of its charter, which states commitment to "all peoples," by excluding the people of Taiwan from it.
"We do not intend to bring the cross-strait issue to the UN. We hope to join the body, and I personally believe if we could be in the UN, the cross-strait situation would not be as bad as many people think it is now," Chen said.
Reviewing the country's failed bids to enter the UN over the past 12 years, Chen said 12 years, after all, is not too long.
"It took China 21 years to oust us from the UN and get into the body," he said.
UN representatives from 15 of Taiwan's allies presented a proposal for Taiwan's entrance to the international body to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Aug. 10, asking the UN to recognize representatives of Taiwan, according to Tung Kuo-yu (董國猷), director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' (MOFA) Department of International Organization.
The proposal's memorandum mentioned UN Resolution 2758 (XXVI), passed in the body's 1967th plenary meeting on Oct. 25, 1971, which recognizes the representatives of the government of the PRC as the only legitimate representatives of China to the UN.
The resolution also decided to "expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it."
Chen said the resolution proves the people of Taiwan have not been represented in the UN. This year, Taiwan will use both "Taiwan" and the "Republic of China" as its national titles in applying for participation in the UN, he said.
The ministry has invited five of Taiwan's allies, including Chad, Solomon Islands, Nicaragua, Tuvalu, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, to speak in support of Taiwan's bid during the UN General Assembly session Sept. 15.
Taiwan's allies will also argue for Taiwan's bid during the assembly's annual general debate, which brings together heads of state and governments from around the world. The debate is scheduled to begin Sept. 21 and finish Oct. 1, Tung said.
Chen, who Tuesday met with representatives of the UK and France in Taiwan to discuss the country's UN bid, said "big countries' attitudes are very important to our bid."
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