Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry did not mention Taiwan during his address on Friday at the UN General Debate because of the “extraordinary circumstances” that his country is facing, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday in Taipei.
Department of International Organizations Director-General Jonathan Sun (孫儉元) made the remarks when asked why the Haitian leader did not mention Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, during his address at the 78th General Assembly in New York.
Haiti is Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally among the 12 that are official UN members that did not bring up the issue of Taiwan being excluded from the international body during their respective addresses.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
Another Taiwanese ally, the Holy See, is not a member of the UN, but an observer, so it rarely speaks about political issues during UN meetings.
Sun said that every year before the General Assembly, representatives from the ministry and Taiwanese embassies in allied countries communicate with those governments in the hope they would support Taiwan’s bid to be included in the UN “in the most appropriate way they can.”
Despite the Haitian leader not directly mentioning Taiwan in his UN address, he did mention the importance of self-determination and upholding universal principles, which are in line with Taiwan’s call for meaningful participation in the UN, Sun said.
Sun did not elaborate, but according to the ministry, he was referring to part of Henry’s speech that said Haiti “has always been present to help brotherly peoples in their legitimate struggle for freedom and self-determination, sometimes even within the UN.”
An unnamed diplomatic source said that Haiti has been embroiled in widespread political, economic and security crises since former Haitian president Jovenel Moise was assassinated at his home in July 2021.
That is why Henry focused more on the continuing unrest in his country during this year’s address and did not directly mention Taiwan, they said.
Sun yesterday said that all of Taiwan’s allies, including Haiti, would send a joint letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in support of Taiwan’s request to play a more active role in the international organization.
He did not say if the Holy See would be involved in the letter-sending event, which has taken place for several years as part of the Taiwan government’s campaign to be included in the UN system.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
RSS