A delegation is to travel to New York City to lobby for Taiwan’s inclusion in international organizations, with the 77th session of the UN General Assembly to begin on Sept. 13.
The delegation would be the first time Taiwanese lawmakers visit the city since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a two-year hiatus in the Legislative Yuan’s UN-related advocacy efforts there.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) and New Power Party Legislator Claire Wang (王婉諭) are to lead the delegation in activities including speaking at conferences and taking part in the UN parade.
Photo: Reuters
Wang told the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) she is honored to be a coleader of the delegation and lawmakers would join forces to ensure that the international community knows Taiwan deserves to be represented at the UN.
“My experience with the World Health Assembly and the Copenhagen Democracy Summit has shown that parliamentary diplomacy is deeply important,” she said, adding that a goal of the New York trip is to shore up semi-official dialogue between Taiwan and the world.
The delegation would emphasize Taiwan’s faith in the values of democracy and freedom, while urging the world to reckon with a UN human rights report about China’s actions in Xinjiang, she said.
UN Taiwan Alliance executive director Tseng Tsung-kai (曾琮愷) said that she would not travel to New York this year due to concerns over the pandemic, but added that the alliance would host a news conference at the Legislative Yuan.
Separately, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday released a short film entitled Taiwan’s Helping Hand on social media aligned with the theme of the assembly’s general debate: “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges.”
The film calls attention to Taiwan’s contributions to the global efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, supply chain hardening and human rights, the ministry said in a news release.
Taiwan strives to help the world achieve sustainable development goals, including health and well-being; industry, innovation and infrastructure; reduced inequality; climate action, peace, justice and strong institutions; and global partnerships, it said.
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