Oct. 24 has been designated "Taiwan UN Day," Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) announced yesterday.
The day marks the anniversary of the coming into force of the UN Charter and is celebrated around the world as United Nations Day.
The premier made the announcement during yesterday morning's weekly Cabinet meeting after hearing a report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Taiwan's bid for UN membership and another report by the Sports Affairs Council on a plan to hold a torch relay on Oct. 24 to promote the nation's UN membership bid.
Not a public holiday
Chang ordered the Ministry of the Interior to process the paperwork as soon as possible to facilitate the declaration of the commemorative day, which will not be observed as a public holiday.
He said that even though the application had failed, the government had taken a "big step forward" this year by applying for UN membership under the name "Taiwan."
"Today, we want to declare to our citizens and to the international community that we will not be discouraged. Taiwan's drive to join the United Nations will not stop here," he said.
Out of touch
Chang said that many Taiwanese have lost touch with UN-related issues since the Republic of China's withdrawal from the organization in 1971.
"We want to remind the public of the importance of the issue so that more people will support the idea," Chang added.
Cabinet Spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey (
"It is my understanding that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will carry a torch and lead the activity," Shieh said.
Shieh said that the relay would be held from 7am to 7pm and that a total of 25 counties would join in.
More than 12,500 baseball hats and T-shirts will be distributed to participants, Shieh said.
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
RSS