The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has invited experts on UN affairs to visit Taiwan next week, as part of the government’s efforts to push for the country’s participation in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), an official said yesterday.
Lily Hsu (徐儷文), director-general of the Department of International Organizations, said the group of seven academics would hold discussions with officials at the Environmental Protection Administration and the Civil Aeronautics Administration to exchange ideas on related issues.
The group of academics represent the Academic Council on the UN System, the Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention at the US Institute of Peace, the Atlantic Council, University of Columbia, City University of New York, Rutgers University and Seton Hall University, Hsu said.
“Through the visit, we hope to build up our connections with the UN community to learn from their points of view what we can do more to substantially enhance linkage between Taiwan and the UN,” Hsu said.
The group will be in Taiwan for six days starting on Monday.
Following Taiwan’s participation as an observer at the World Health Assembly in May 2009, the government declared in October that year that the UNFCCC and the ICAO were the country’s next targets for “meaningful participation” in specialized UN agencies, but the government has yet to make formal requests for entry.
President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration gave up Taiwan’s quest for UN membership in 2007 and opted instead to seek “meaningful participation” in the global body’s auxiliary agencies.
The Republic of China withdrew from the UN in 1971.
The last time that Taiwan made a bid to the UN General Assembly for full UN membership was in 2008, after applying every year since 1992.
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