Three of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, Paraguay, the Marshall Islands and Palau, this week voiced support for the nation’s inclusion in the UN at the General Debate of the 79th UN General Assembly in New York.
In his address on Thursday, Paraguayan President Santiago Pena reiterated that Paraguay is committed to the principle of “leave no nation behind” and supports countries excluded from important international forums to become integral members of the world body.
“Paraguay not only recognizes, but also profoundly values international cooperation with the Republic of China, Taiwan,” Pena said. “This is a kindred nation with which we have for more than 70 years forged robust and meaningful friendship.”
Photo: AFP
The friendship is based on “the shared values of democracy, the rule of law and free trade,” he said, adding that it was “forged through the adversity of two geographically small countries living alongside great powers.”
“In this assembly, we renew our firm support for Taiwan to be a full part of the United Nations,” Pena said, adding that the country’s exclusion from the international community is an “injustice” that cannot be overlooked.
“Their [Taiwan’s] contribution to the international community should be recognized,” he said. “If there is a country that today should be a part of the United Nations and is not yet so, that is Taiwan.”
Photo: AFP
Also on Thursday, Palauan Vice President Uduch Sengebau Sr reaffirmed her country’s strong and enduring relationship with Taiwan and called for its meaningful participation in international organizations.
“Taiwan’s exclusion undermines the principles of inclusivity and cooperation that the United Nations represents,” Sengebau said, adding that “UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 does not preclude Taiwan’s involvement in efforts related to the sustainable development goals and we urge this assembly to support Taiwan’s rightful inclusion.”
Resolution 2758 was adopted by the 26th UN General Assembly in 1971 to address the issue of China’s representation at the world body.
It resulted in Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China, losing its seat at the UN to the People’s Republic of China.
Taiwan has since been excluded from participating in the international organization and its affiliates.
On Wednesday, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine also expressed her country’s support for Taiwan, saying that only the latter’s independent democratic government can represent its 23 million people.
“The UN Resolution 2758 does not mention Taiwan and should not be used as a pretext to exclude Taiwan from participating meaningfully in the UN system,” Heine said, adding that the resolution has been “misused to threaten cross-strait trade, regional peace and security.”
“This was never its original intent. It cannot serve as a sound basis to prohibit Taiwanese citizens and journalists from the UN premises,” she added.
The General Debate of the 79th UN General Assembly opened in New York on Tuesday and is scheduled to end tomorrow.
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS