Officials of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies on Friday submitted a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in support of Taiwan’s participation in the UN.
The letter, signed by 10 of Taiwan’s 15 diplomatic allies, was submitted to Guterres by the representatives to the UN of Belize, Eswatini and Tuvalu.
The leaders of Belize, Eswatini, Haiti, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tuvalu signed the letter, urging the UN to view Taiwan as a partner in the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals.
The letter called for action to resolve the situation of 23 million Taiwanese being excluded from the UN system, lift the ban on Taiwanese and Taiwanese media from entering the UN headquarters and allow Taiwan to contribute to reaching global goals with dignity and parity.
Belizean Permanent Representative to the UN Lois Michele Young said she emphasized to Guterres that Taiwan should be allowed to participate in the World Health Assembly, the WHO’s decisionmaking body.
However, she cited Guterres as saying that according to UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, which recognizes Beijing as “the only legitimate representative of China to the UN,” Taiwan remains excluded.
Young said that the resolution is not in line with the current situation.
The UN held its 75th General Assembly from Sept. 15 to Wednesday last week.
Twelve of Taiwan’s 15 diplomatic allies in their statements voiced support for Taiwan’s bid to participate in the UN system, one country more than in last year’s assembly.
In addition to the countries that signed the joint letter, four others have written to Guterres individually, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The Vatican, Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in Europe, did not express a position on the matter.
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