The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today thanked 10 of Taiwan's diplomatic allies for supporting the nation's aspirations to participate in the UN during the 80th session of the UN General Assembly.
High-level officials from Belize, Eswatini, Guatemala, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Paraguay, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tuvalu spoke up on behalf of Taiwan during their address at the UN General Debate and / or sent letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the ministry said in a statement.
Of the nation's diplomatic allies that are UN members, Haiti is the only one to not have brought up Taiwan over the past few years. The Caribbean country has been embroiled in political, economic and security crises since former Haitian president Jovenel Moise was assassinated in July 2021.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
Haiti's representatives at the UN prefer to focus more on the continuing unrest in their country, an anonymous diplomatic source previously said.
Taiwan's only diplomatic ally in Europe, the Holy See, is an observer, not a member of the UN, and rarely speaks on political issues during UN meetings.
This year, Czech President Petr Pavel again warned that rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait threaten global security and trade during his address, the ministry said, adding that this was the second time since 2023 that he has voiced similar concerns in the General Debate, which ended on Monday.
Outside of UN meetings, others have also adopted motions in support of Taiwan's participation in international organizations, the ministry said.
These include the US Senate, US House of Representatives and 30 US state-level lawmaker bodies, as well as the Dutch House of Representatives, the Saint Kitts and Nevis National Assembly and the Guatemalan Congress, it said.
UN Resolution 2758, adopted in 1971, which Beijing has used as its basis to claim sovereignty over Taiwan, does not mention Taiwan, the ministry said, adding that it also does not state that Taiwan is part of China or give Beijing the right to represent Taiwan in the UN.
"Only Taiwan's democratically elected government can represent the country's 23 million people in the UN," it said.
Since the US in April last year first began to criticize Beijing's misinterpretation of Resolution 2758, 19 other countries and the EU have all followed suit, the ministry said.
Resolution 2758 was adopted at the 26th UN General Assembly to address the issue of China's representation at the international body. It resulted in Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China, losing its seat at the UN to the People's Republic of China. Taipei has since been excluded from participating in the international organization and its affiliates.
Washington has repeatedly accused Beijing of making "coercive efforts" to exclude Taiwan from the international community by misusing Resolution 2758.
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