Twelve of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies on Tuesday sent a joint letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in support of Taiwan’s request to play a more active role in the international organization.
In the letter, the diplomatic allies called on the UN to respond positively to Taiwan’s three demands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The three demands are that the UN practice the principle of true universality by not rejecting Taiwan, that it end measures that prevent Taiwanese from entering UN meetings, and that it include the nation in the organization because of Taiwan’s achievements in realizing UN sustainable development goals.
The letter was accepted by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed of Nigeria and was to be delivered to Guterres later on Tuesday, after the general debate at the General Assembly had concluded on Monday.
The 12 allies that sent the letter were Nauru, Belize, the Marshall Islands, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland, the Solomon Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Burkina Faso, Haiti and El Salvador.
After handing over the joint letter, Lois Michele Young, the permanent representative of Belize to the UN, questioned why Taiwanese could not step inside UN headquarters, as Republic of China (ROC) passport holders enjoy visa-free travel or travel privileges to 165 countries and territories that are all UN members.
There is no reason Taiwan, the world’s 22nd-largest economy, should be excluded from discussions on global affairs, she added.
Sehon Marshall, the permanent representative to the UN of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, said he plans to continue to persuade and encourage the UN to lift all restrictions on the ROC.
Three other allies — Nicaragua, Paraguay and Honduras — each sent individual letters to the UN Secretariat on Taiwan’s behalf.
Monsignor Tomasz Grysa, deputy head of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the UN, was one of 10 allies that signed another joint letter delivered to the UN.
Expressing its gratitude to the nation’s allies for their support, the ministry reiterated its appeal that the UN take action to accept Taiwan’s participation in UN-related organizations.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS