The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday thanked the nation’s allies for their unwavering support for Taiwan’s UN bid after St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu, St. Lucia and the Solomon Islands spoke in favor of Taiwan’s participation in the global body.
“We welcome such support and we appreciate our allies for their actions,” ministry Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said.
“We kept telling the press and the public to wait and see how our allies would help us out and this is a good example of it,” Chen said.
However, Chen did not comment on why Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who has hinted in the past he may be interested in switching allegiance to Beijing, did not throw his weight behind the bid.
This year marked Taiwan’s 16th failed attempt to be admitted into the UN after it forfeited its seat in 1971 when the UN General Assembly agreed to recognize the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of China.
Instead of bidding for full membership, Taiwan only requested “meaningful participation” in the activities of the agencies under the UN umbrella.
The bid was rejected when the UN General Committee on Tuesday refused to list the resolution on the assembly agenda.
Central News Agency reported that St. Vincent Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves commended Taiwan as a responsible stakeholder in the international community and for its push to ameliorate cross-strait relations with Beijing.
If Taiwan can be an active member of the WTO, he argued, there is no reason why Taiwan should be excluded from the WHO and other UN agencies.
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Derek Sikua and Tuvaluan Prime Minister Apisai Ielemia Apisai urged UN member states to reward Taiwan’s efforts in assuaging cross-strait tensions by giving Taiwan the appropriate and much needed international space it needed and accept it in UN agencies.
St. Lucia Prime Minister Stephenson King said that although Taiwan does not have a seat in the global organization, it has never failed to contribute in the efforts to tackle global challenges such as diseases, disaster and food shortage.
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