A Palauan representative on Friday criticized the UN for not allowing Taiwanese nationals to be part of its delegation list at the Ocean Conference in Lisbon.
“The UN has excluded the 23 million people of Taiwan from the conversation,” the delegate said at the conference’s closing ceremony. “They were not given badges and were not allowed to be part of our delegation simply because they hold Taiwanese passports.”
“We view this as a violation of our sovereign rights,” the delegate added. “Ocean issues are global issues and we call on all of us to work together without discrimination.”
Photo: AP
Taiwan is not a member of the UN, and its citizens are unable to attend UN events as representatives of Taiwan, which is largely excluded from international organizations that have China as a member.
A US delegate said it was a “long-standing practice that each member state can decide the composition of its delegation,” adding that it was up to Palau and Tuvalu, which also saw its Taiwanese members blocked from attending, to decide whether to include people from Taiwan.
“No credential committee should have pressed them to remove those individuals from their delegations,” the US delegate said.
Tuvaluan Minister for Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs Simon Kofe withdrew from the conference after China challenged the accreditation of three Taiwanese members of his delegation, Radio New Zealand reported on Monday.
After Palau’s intervention, the Chinese representative said it was “regrettable” that the “Taiwan issue” was brought up.
“Taiwan is part of China and cannot possibly attend a UN conference,” the representative said.
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