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Motion on Taiwan's membership bid submitted to United Nations

ROC Central News Agency

2007-08-16 15:00:22

    New York, Aug. 15 (CNA) Fifteen of Taiwan's diplomatic allies have put forward a motion at the United Nations pressing the world body to deal with Taiwan's membership application according to established procedures, Taiwan officials posted in New York said Wednesday.

    The motion, which the allies said they hope can be included on the agenda of the upcoming annual gathering of the U.N. General Assembly, was submitted to the General Assembly Tuesday by the ambassadors to the U.N. from The Gambia, Swaziland and Tuvalu, three of the motion's sponsors. The other sponsors were Belize, Burkina Faso, Honduras, Kiribati, Malawi, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Sao Tome and Principe, and the Solomon Islands.

    The 62nd regular session of the General Assembly is scheduled to open Sept. 18 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The General Committee is expect to meet Sept. 19 to finalize the agenda of the session.

    The Republic of China has tried without success to re-enter the United Nations since 1993. This year marks the first time it has changed tactics by bidding to join the world body under the name of Taiwan.

    President Chen Shui-bian sent a membership application letter on behalf of Taiwan to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon July 19, but the letter was returned by Ban based on U.N. Resolution 2758, which U.N. officials said is the basis of the "one China" policy of the United Nations.

    On July 31, Chen sent a second letter to Ban urging him to reconsider his decision and one to Wang Guangya, China's permanent representative to the United Nations, who served as rotating president of the Security Council for July. Both letters wer also returned.

    Taiwan has strongly protested Ban's move, claiming that only the Security Council and the General Assembly have the authority to review and decide on membership applications and that the U.N. Secretariat does not have the power to decide on such matters.

    Also, Taiwan argued that Resolution 2758 neither grants China the right to represent Taiwan at the United Nations nor states that Taiwan is either a part of China or the People's Republic of China.

(By Hwang Jaw-pyng and Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/Li