US Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Michele Sison on Monday called for support for Taiwan’s “meaningful” participation in the UN system.
Sison posted a photograph on Twitter of her and Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), saying that it had been great to meet with Hsiao and that “Taiwan’s contributions benefit the international community on so many issues.”
“We encourage UN Member States to support Taiwan’s meaningful participation throughout the UN system,” Sison wrote.
Photo taken from Twitter
At the end of her post, Sison used the hashtag #TaiwanCanHelp, a slogan to show the country’s willingness to take part in international humanitarian efforts and provide help to those in need.
Separately, Hsiao wrote on Twitter: “Appreciated the opportunity to discuss how we can work together to expand Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.”
While neither specified where and when they had met, sources said they met in a building of the US Department of State on Friday last week.
It was the first time Sison had met with Hsiao since she started in the post in December last year.
Sison was US ambassador to Haiti from February 2018 to October last year, and US deputy representative to the UN from 2014 to 2018, state department data show.
During her time as UN envoy, Sison helped build global coalitions to counter transnational threats to peace and security, and advocated for a more effective, efficient and accountable UN and multilateral system, the state department said.
In October last year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US had urged other UN member states to support “Taiwan’s robust, meaningful participation throughout the UN system and in the international community.”
Taiwan’s participation is not a political issue, but a pragmatic one, as the exclusion of Taiwan would be detrimental to the UN and its related agencies, Blinken said.
Blinken’s comments came a day after the 50th anniversary of UN Resolution 2758 on Oct. 25, in which the People’s Republic of China was designated as the representative of China at the UN, while the Republic of China, as Taiwan is officially known, was expelled.
Taiwan has not been a UN member since the passage of the resolution, limiting its participation in the body’s specialized agencies.
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