The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday reassured the public that ties between Taiwan and Guatemala remain stable, adding that the Central American nation’s failure to speak up for Taiwan’s participation in the UN at the UN’s General Assembly was due to its preoccupation with domestic issues.
Concerns about the two nations’ 85 years of diplomatic relations escalated as it was the third consecutive year that the president of Guatemala did not endorse Taiwan’s bid to be included in UN activities during the general debate portion of the assembly in New York City, which concluded on Monday.
Guatemala also did not join the nation’s other diplomatic allies in penning a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres advocating Taiwan’s participation in the UN, nor did it write one on its own like Nicaragua, Honduras and Paraguay.
“Our bilateral ties remain stable... I would also like to add that Guatemala did speak up for Taiwan’s cause at the World Health Assembly earlier this year,” ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) told a news conference in Taipei.
Lee said as there are several cases resulting from Guatemala’s past civil war that are being deliberated at the UN, its leaders have been paying more attention to issues concerning its own national interest.
Asked whether it is a cause for concern that Haitian President Jovenel Moise opted to support Taiwan’s bid to join the UN in the joint letter instead of via open remarks, as he and his predecessor did in the past four years, Lee said the ministry respects its allies’ decision to express their support in ways and on occasions that they consider to be most appropriate.
Other efforts were also made outside of the UN General Assembly to rally support for Taiwan’s cause, such as the 20 events held by the government in collaboration with its diplomatic allies’ UN missions, universities, think tanks and youth groups to show the UN that “Taiwan is a constructive partner in the realization of its sustainable development goals,” Lee said.
He added that civic groups and Taiwanese based in New York also organized more than 10 campaign activities to help garner support.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) in an interview with the New York Times and in an op-ed published by 105 foreign media outlets said that Taiwan deserved an equal opportunity as the rest of the world at UN events, Lee said.
Reporters Without Borders also lent its support in a statement that appealed to the UN the end its discriminatory practice of denying Taiwanese journalists access to UN events, an appeal also echoed by the European Federation of Journalists, the Slovakian Institute for Public Affairs and media groups from Nicaragua, Turkey and Malaysia, he said.
The government would continue its efforts to advocate for Taiwan’s inclusion at the UN in an equal and dignified manner, he added.
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