The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it was negotiating with the UN following a report that a Taiwanese tourist was denied entry to the UN headquarters in Europe after presenting her Republic of China (ROC) passport.
Tsai Yu-ling (蔡淯鈴) said in a Facebook post that on a recent trip to Geneva, Switzerland, she wanted to join a daily guided tour at the UN headquarters, but when she showed her ROC passport at the entrance, she was told she could not use it to enter the facility.
Tsai said she told the staff member that she had used her ROC passport to visit the UN headquarters a few years ago and asked why she could not do so now. The man replied that regulations had changed and she could not enter the building with an ROC passport.
Tsai said the man then asked another staff member to explain the changes to her.
“Taiwan is part of China,” Tsai quoted the person as saying. “Can you please present your Chinese passport and a Chinese ID card? You can enter and visit the headquarters as long as you can show us either one of those documents.”
“I am Taiwanese and I only have a Taiwanese passport. Taiwan is not part of China,” Tsai answered, adding that since she is not a Chinese citizen, it would be impossible for her to own a Chinese passport or a Chinese ID.
She added that she told the staff member that what they were asking her to produce does not exist and that it was a form of discrimination.
Tsai said the person reiterated that she could go in if she could show them a Chinese passport, but could not enter without one.
Tsai said that she eventually left the UN headquarters, feeling angry and humiliated.
According to the ministry, Tsai was not the only person who had been denied a tour around the UN headquarters. A Taiwanese man encountered the same problem when he wanted to enter the building using his ROC passport.
Michael Hsu (徐佩勇), director-general of the ministry’s Department of International Organizations, said the government cannot accept how the UN handled the situation, adding that the ministry had asked the Geneva office of the Cultural and Economic Delegation of Taipei to negotiate with the staff of the UN.
Hsu said the UN has not been consistent in the way it handled the situation, sometimes allowing Taiwanese to enter the building if they present two photo IDs, but denying them entry at other times even if they followed the requirement.
Hsu said it is a long-term issue and is a problem that had occurred not only under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government, but also during the Democratic Progressive Party administration.
He said the government would continue to negotiate with the UN over the issue as long as Taiwanese tourists report such discriminatory practices.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS