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President calls Taiwan's U.N. bid 'fight between justice and evil'

ROC Central News Agency

2007-09-06 23:31:43

    Taipei, Sept. 6 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Thursday that Taiwan's bid to join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan is "a fight between justice and evil within the international community, " adding that Taiwan will eventually prevail so long as it "follows the path of justice."

    Chen made the remarks during a video conference organized by the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute (AEI) . A number of U.S. scholars and experts attended the conference in the U.S. capital. Also present were U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a co-chair of the House Taiwan Caucus, and Taiwan's representative to the United States, Joseph Wu.

    Chen noted that in the past, despite having repeatedly emphasized Taiwan's desire to participate in some capacity in the world body, the country never formally filed an application. "This year, however, we decided to alter our strategy and not to again sell ourselves short," Chen went on. "We not only want to apply for U.N. membership, we also want to do so under the name 'Taiwan' and in the capacity of a new member state," he said.

    Chen reiterated that Taiwan is not part of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and that Taiwan is an independent, sovereign country. "This is not only a fact, but it is also the status quo of the Taiwan Strait," he added.

    He further said "there is no need for anybody to tell us whether or not Taiwan is a country."

    Describing the U.N. Secretariat's rejection of the two letters written by him expressing the country's intention to become a U.N. member as "unlawful abuses of power, " Chen said that "according to the U.N. Charter and the Rules of Procedure of the U.N. Security Council and the General Assembly, Taiwan's membership application should be reviewed and decided upon by the Security Council and General Assembly."

    Chen said he hopes that "those countries that love freedom and democracy, and respect human rights, justice and peace, will speak out from a position of justice in the upcoming U.N. General Assembly, and allow Taiwan the opportunity to have its membership application reviewed fairly." "Over the past six decades, the U.N. has grown in an attempt to incorporate and embrace all nations with passion and sincerity, regardless of size, population or degree of economic development, " Chen said. "Applying for U.N. membership has never been seen as a provocative act, except in the sole case of Taiwan, which has been repeatedly shut out of the U.N.," he went on.

    Noting that due to China's suppression, obstruction and denial of Taiwan's sovereignty, Chen said that the country has been unable to become a U.N. member, which he noted "renders the U.N.'s principle of universality an empty concept."

(By T.C. Jiang)

ENDITEM/jnc