Taiwan renews plea for recognition by United Nations

NEW YORK – Speaking on the eve of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, has renewed Taiwan's plea to participate in UN meetings, activities and mechanisms.

Taiwan’s 23 million people had been left out of the global effort to achieve goals set by the Assembly in 2015 in its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Wu said. And Taiwan tourists, experts and professionals were denied entry to UN premises simply because the UN did not accept Taiwan passports.

“Taiwan is calling on the international community to recognise its determination to contribute to regional and global affairs,” Wu said.

“The so-called one-China principle has been challenged by many UN member States. It is wrong for the UN, an organisation created to serve all of humankind, to unilaterally define Taiwan’s status.

“It violates the principal of universality upon which the UN was founded.”

Wu said that, despite not being allowed to participate in UN meetings and mechanisms, Taiwan had never shirked its duties as a responsible stakeholder in sustainable development.

Taiwan had released its first Voluntary National Review last year, detailing its whole-of-government approach to implementing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The report showed Taiwan well above UN SDG standards on poverty, hunger, number of low-income households (less than 2%), maternal and under-five child mortality rates, and literacy.

Taiwan was also providing development assistance to other countries through its International Co-operation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF), which had launched programmes in the Pacific, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

These programmes aimed to help countries in these regions achieve clean energy, food security, food safety, sustainable agriculture, better education, health and well-being for all age groups, and disaster reduction and rehabilitation, he said.

TaiwanICDF also worked with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to assist countries in Central Asia and Central and Eastern Europe to develop market economies and a green economy.

“While Taiwan’s valuable contributions have been widely acclaimed around the globe, the UN continues to ignore what Taiwan can offer,” Wu said.

“By excluding a willing and able partner like Taiwan, the UN not only violates the fundamental human rights of Taiwan’s 23 million people, it greatly harms human welfare.

“To ensure that the UN remains relevant to all people, the organisation should stand up to external pressures and open its doors to Taiwan.”   www.mofa.gov.tw/en/ (ATI).