The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) does not rule out pushing for a national referendum on applying for UN membership under the name "Taiwan," a MOFA official said yesterday, echoing President Chen Shui-bian's (
In a teleconference held on Wednesday night with the UN correspondents club in New York, Chen cited a recent public opinion poll that showed more than 79 percent of the people support the country joining the UN under the name "Taiwan."
Since 1993, Taiwan has applied to rejoin the UN every year under the official title "the Republic of China" and has failed every time due to the intervention and opposition of Beijing.
The people's support
Chen said Taiwan might resort to a referendum to obtain people's endorsement, adding that Taiwan could also apply for new UN membership rather than "returning" to the UN, which is also in accord with what the majority of people want.
When pursued for comments on Chen's statement, Deputy Director of the ministry's Information Department David Wang (王建業) said yesterday that MOFA has been pushing for Taiwan's UN entry for more than a decade and has been working on hammering out proposals that allow Taiwan to be noticed in the UN General Assembly.
More discussion
"As long as President Chen's suggestions are helpful in achieving our goals, there is no reason to rule out such a proposal," Wang said. "But this notion needs more discussion; we need a clear picture of what we want to achieve and how it will be implemented."
Launching a referendum on whether Taiwan should apply for UN membership under the name of "Taiwan" might be possible, he suggested, but MOFA was not pursuing this option just yet.
"But we will not say it is not under consideration," Wang said.
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