It is the 15th straight year that Taiwan has failed in its bid to join the world body, but this year marks the first time it has applied under the name "Taiwan."
At the Sept. 21 plenary meeting, 14 of Taiwan's diplomatic allies spoke up to challenge the committee's Sept. 19 recommendation not to consider an item endorsed by 16 of Taiwan's allies. The item urged the U.N. Security Council to process Taiwan's membership application in accordance with due procedure.
The allies voiced for Taiwan were The Gambia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Palau, Burkina Faso, the Solomon Islands, Paraguay, Belize, Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands, Swaziland, Sao Tome and Principe, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, El Salvador and St. Lucia.
Taiwan deserves its own membership in the United Nations because it is not a part of China, Gambian Ambassador Tamsir Jallow said in a Sept. 21 statement from the United Nations. Continuing to deny U.N. membership infringes upon the human rights of Taiwan's 23 million people, he added.
It was unfortunate, Jallow said, that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon returned a letter sent by President Chen Shui-bian. Chen asked Ban to refer the matter of the membership application to the Security Council.
In contrast, over 120 member states spoke against including the item in the agenda. The United States, Japan and Canada did not take a stance on the issue. The United Kingdom and France, which were in favor of the General Committee's recommendation, stressed that Taiwan and China should seek a peaceful resolution to their differences through dialogues.
After the marathon debate, General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim ruled that the item should not be included in the agenda on the grounds that member states could not reach a consensus.
Even so, it is the first time that the issue of Taiwan's representation has been discussed so extensively at a plenary meeting of the General Assembly, ROC Deputy Foreign Minister Yang Tzu-pao said at a press conference held in Taipei Sept. 22. It shows that Taiwan's bid has received a high level of attention from the international community, he added. Yang regarded the United States' silence at the meeting as a "friendly response."
Joining the United Nations is the aspiration of the 23 million people in Taiwan, Yang noted. The government will continue to actively communicate with the world community in order to gain its support, he stressed.
Joseph Wu, Taiwan's representative to the United States, said Sept. 21 that Taiwan must fight for every opportunity to have open discussion of the membership issue, although the country is fully aware that the chances of the issue being included in the agenda is slim, owing to China's opposition, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported Sept. 22.
According to Wu, such public talk will allow the world to hear the Taiwanese people and become aware of the unfair treatment the country has borne.
Write to Edwin Hsiao at edwinhsiao@mail.gio.gov.tw