Taiwan continues international participation bids

Taiwan will continue its quest for greater participation in international organizations and activities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday, with the 71st session of the United Nations General Assembly scheduled to open the following day.

The ministry plans to ask its diplomatic allies to speak out to support Taiwan's meaningful participation in U.N.-affiliated agencies during the U.N. General Assembly debate that will open Sept. 20 and run through Sept. 26, Deputy Foreign Minister Wu Chih-chung (???) said.

The ministry also plans to ask permanent representatives to the U.N. of Taiwan's diplomatic allies to extend a letter to the U.N. secretary-general to explain the pressing need for including Taiwan in U.N.-affiliated agencies, Wu added.

In the letter, Taiwan will express its interest in meaningful participation in U.N.-affiliated agencies and it will be referred to as the Republic of China (Taiwan), the Republic of China, and Taiwan, according to Wu.

This year, the government aims to urge the U.N. to understand the basic rights of Taiwan's 23 million people to take part in U.N.-affiliated organizations or activities, the World Health Organization, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Taiwan also wants to call on the U.N. to evaluate Taiwan's progress toward the achievement of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals 2016-2030, through its participation in a series of thematic discussions based on the U.N. Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030, according to Wu.

In addition, the ministry said it has not received an invitation letter from the ICAO secretariat to attend this year's ICAO Assembly, which is to be held from Sept. 27 through Oct. 7 in Montreal, Canada.

The ICAO assembly is the organization's sovereign body and meets once every three years to establish worldwide aviation policies for the following three years.

Given the fact that air traffic controllers in Taiwan guided 1.53 million aircraft through the Taipei Flight Information Region last year and watched over the lives of 58 million passengers, there is a need for Taiwan's participation in the annual assembly and its activities, the ministry said.

In September 2013, then-Civil Aeronautics Administration Director-General Shen Chi (??) attended the ICAO's 38th assembly as a special guest, under the designation "Chinese Taipei" -- the name Taiwan has to use when taking part in international events.

Before Shen's participation in 2013, the last time Taiwan attended an ICAO general assembly was in 1971, when it participated under the name "Republic of China," just months before it lost its seat at the United Nations to Beijing.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel