Sep 13, 2007

Will Taiwan Ever be Part of the Club?


With the conclusion of the United Nations General Assembly’s 61st Session rapidly approaching, UNPO considers the time ripe to afford justice and equal rights to Taiwan and therefore urges the UN to address Taiwan’s application for Membership.

The Hague, 13 September 2007 The General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) is on the verge of considering Taiwan’s membership application to their organisation. Taiwan is a founding Member of UNPO and for too long now has the international community turned a cold shoulder to the 23 million habitants of the island. Their demographic and economic size, paired with its political culture, makes Taiwan a stately embodiment of human dignity and accomplishment.

 

The UN Charter states that the mission of the organisation is “to reaffirm faith in the fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women, and of nations, large and small.” This remarkable commitment to the principles of universality, for all nations and peoples, is at the core of the international system created by the establishment of the UN sixty years ago calling on “all other peace-loving states” to join the Organization.

 

In this respect, the question regarding the participation and representation of the democratic State of Taiwan to the UN still remains unsolved and represents an unjust exclusion of Taiwan’s governmental agencies, civil society organisations as well as individuals in the activities of the UN and related bodies; de facto depriving the people of Taiwan of their fundamental right to benefit from and contribute to the duties of the UN.

 

Considering the important role played by Taiwan in several international organisations, notably the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the full diplomatic relations with 23 UN Member States, including 120 embassies, general consulates and representative offices worldwide, clearly demonstrates that Taiwan is an effective, democratic and dynamic sovereign state.

 

On behalf of UNPO, General Secretary Marino Busdachin asserts: “Taiwan’s long-standing commitment to the UN principles, UN Charter, international law and substantive cooperation within the International Community warrants substantial consideration by the UN Member States. I therefore urge the international community to withdraw the discrimination of Taiwan by the UN system and restore the right of Taiwan to a seat and full participation at the UN. UNPO considers the time ripe to call for justice and equal rights, and to end the conventio ad exludendum of Taiwan and its full right in the participation at the United Nations and in its bodies.”

 

 

With the aim of bolstering further support of Taiwan’s candidature to the United Nations, UNPO has issued the below statement to Her Excellency Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, President of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly, United Nations:

 

Her Excellency,

 

On behalf of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO), I present my compliments to You and would hereby like to bring the below matter to Your urgent attention.

 

UNPO is a democratic, international organization located in The Hague. Its Members are indigenous peoples, occupied nations, minorities and unrecognised or occupied territories which lack representation internationally. UNPO aims to protect their human and cultural rights, preserve their environments, and to find non-violent solutions to conflicts which affect them. For too long has the international community turned a cold shoulder to the 23 million habitants of Taiwan. Their demographic and economic size, paired with its political culture, makes Taiwan a stately embodiment of human dignity and accomplishment. 

 

The UN Charter states that the mission of the Organization is “to reaffirm faith in the fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women, and of nations, large and small.” This remarkable commitment to the principles of universality, for all nations and peoples, is at the core of the international system created by the establishment of the UN sixty years ago calling on “all other peace-loving states” to join the Organization.

 

In this respect, the question regarding the participation and representation of the democratic State of Taiwan to the UN still remains unsolved and represents an unjust exclusion of Taiwan’s governmental agencies, civil society organisations as well as individuals in the activities of the UN and related bodies; de facto depriving the people of Taiwan of their fundamental right to benefit from and contribute to the duties of the UN. UNPO is honoured to hereby bring to Your attention to the urgent necessity to withdraw the discrimination of Taiwan by the UN system and restore the right of Taiwan to a seat and full participation at the UN.

 

Considering the important role played by Taiwan in several international organisations, notably the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the full diplomatic relations with 23 UN Member States, including 120 embassies, general consulates and representative offices worldwide, clearly demonstrates that Taiwan is an effective, democratic and dynamic sovereign state. UNPO would hereby kindly request Your support for the inclusion in the Agenda of the Sixty-first Session of the General Assembly (GA) a supplementary item proposed entitled “Question of Representation and Participation of the 23 Million People of Taiwan in the UN”.

 

Taiwan’s long-standing commitment to the UN principles, UN Charter, international law and substantive cooperation within the International Community warrants substantial consideration by the UN Member States. UNPO considers the time ripe to call for justice and equal rights and to end the exclusion of Taiwan and its people from the United Nations.

 

 

Respectfully,

 

Marino Busdachin

General Secretary

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization