Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

TAIWAN TO MAKE TWO CASES FOR U.N. BID THIS YEAR: FOREIGN MINISTER

ROC Central News Agency

2005-08-09 21:08:15

    Taipei, Aug. 9 (CNA) The Republic of China government will make two cases for its U.N. participation this year and will bring to the world's attention China's ever-growing threat to Taiwan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Tan Sun Chen said Tuesday.

    Speaking during an informal meeting with local journalists, Chen said he thinks that this year is a good time for Taiwan to promote its bid to join the United Nations. "This year marks the U.N.'s 60th anniversary. Since the goal of the U.N. is to maintain world peace, we plan to come up with a proposal to make sure that the U.N. pays attention to the situation on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," Chen said.

    Since 1993, Taiwan has tried every year to ask the U.N. Steering Committee through its diplomatic allies to place Taiwan's U.N. bid on the General Assembly agenda. Taiwan has been unsuccessful every time beacuse of China's obstruction.

    In addition to pushing the U.N. Steering Committee to discuss Taiwan's U.N. bid this year, Chen said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is considering putting forth another proposal urging the U.N. to take note of China's threat to Taiwan and take steps to safeguard peace in the Taiwan Strait.

    Foreign ministry officials said earlier this month that the "safeguarding cross-strait peace" proposal is scheduled to be referred to the U.N. Secretariat Aug. 12, and the foreign ministry will hold a news conference at 3 p.m. that day to brief the public on the proposal.

    During Tuesday's talks with local reporters, Chen said the government will tell of the Taiwan Strait situation in a rational and moderate manner to convince the world that Taiwan loves peace and wants to resolve disputes with China. "We'll also explain our way of thinking about China's recently passed Anti-Secession Law in a calm and collected way," Chen said.

    Over the past year, Chen said, China has launched an international publicity campaign aimed at projecting Taiwan in a negative light.

    Chen said the trend reversed itself following China's passage of the Anti-Secession Law, which codifies the use of "non-peaceful means" against Taiwan. Many countries criticized the law, Chen said, adding that the substantial growth in China's military spending and the unveiling of U.S. and Japanese reports on China's growing military power all point to growing international concern about Taiwan Strait security. "Hopefully, our 'peace' proposal will arouse U.N. attention to the Taiwan Strait issue, thereby giving China a chance to understand that the world is watching the Taiwan Strait situation and thus reducing the risk of a conflict in the region, " Chen said, adding that the government will brief U.S. authorities on the key points of the "peace" proposal.

    The 2005 General Assembly is scheduled to start Sept. 13 at the U.N. general headquarters in New York.

(By Sofia Wu)

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