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New York, Sept. 3 (CNA) The Republic of China on Taiwan is getting more support in its bid to rejoin the United Nations this year than previous years, sources from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Eastern US Headquarters said Sunday.

Fourteen of the ROC's diplomatic allies have jointly submitted a proposal asking the world body to reconsider Taiwan's representation.

Representatives of the 14 allies presented the proposal to the UN Secretary General on Aug. 3, requesting that the UN set up a working group to examine the exceptional international situation pertaining to the ROC, and to ensure the right of its 23 million people to participate in the UN and its related agencies.

The 14 allies were Senegal, Grenada, Gambia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Marshall Islands, Nicaragua, Swaziland, the Solomon Islands, Nauru, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Honduras, Chad and the Dominican Republic.

Twelve countries endorsed a similar joint letter to the UN secretary general in 1999.

An event dubbed "UN! Say Yes to Taiwan," is scheduled to kick off in New York Tuesday under the sponsorship of the DPP Eastern US Headquarters.

Tien Tai-jen, director general of the DPP Eastern US Headquarters, said Taiwan's government and private sector have strenuously tried their best to get the international community to accept Taiwan, and these concerted efforts have increased since the DPP took the helm of executive power in Taiwan on May 20 this year.

Meanwhile, Tien said, 42 members from the US House of Representatives have jointly introduced a bill calling on the Clinton Administration to support Taiwan's UN representation. The bill will be raised in Congress in the near future.

He said that although the UN General Assembly might very well kill the allies' proposal, as it has in the preceding seven years, this year's progress in related efforts has been the most fruitful and rewarding of the past eight years.

Yang Huang Mei-hsin, vice chairwoman of the Research, Development and Evaluation Committee under the ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is one of many ROC officials in New York for the "UN! Say Yes to Taiwan" campaign. She said that entering the international community through the doors of unofficial or non-governmental organizations has proved to be an effective way for Taiwan to take part in global affairs, and this strategy will continue. (By Eric Tseng and Deborah Kuo)