UN turns down Taiwan's bid to join organization (Roundup)

Sep 19, 2007, 17:38 GMT

New York/Taipei - The United Nations on Wednesday rejected a 15th consecutive bid by Taiwan to join the world organization, but the island vowed to continue the fight until it has succeeded.

At the start of the 62nd UN General Assembly, the assembly's General Committee rejected a proposal by 16 of Taiwan's 24 diplomatic allies, calling to include Taiwan's application on the General Assembly's agenda.

The dismissal was made in a closed-door meeting by the committee, which sets the agenda for debate during the 62nd General Assembly.

Although Taiwan's case has been dropped from the agenda for discussion by the General Assembly, leaders or ambassadors from Taiwan's allies will raise the Taiwan issue during the general debate.

Taiwan is expected to make a formal response to the General Assembly's decision Thursday, as the rejection was made in the middle of the night in Taiwan.

But on Wednesday, Vice President Annette Lu, anticipating another failure at the UN General Assembly, told the 23 million Taiwanese to persevere in their fight for UN membership.

'We failed in previous years because we applied to join the UN under the name of Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan's formal title). This year we applied to join under the name of Taiwan,' she said at a Taiwan businessmen's meeting.

Lu said that China and the US have opposed Taiwan's newest UN strategy because they suspect Taiwan is moving towards independence, 'but we must move in this direction' of seeking membership.

'It took South Korea and North Korea 15 years before they joined the UN. President Chen Shui-bian has fought so hard for Taiwan's UN admission. So I hope our people should unite in our fight for Taiwan to join the UN,' she said.

Taiwan, or the Republic of China, was ousted from the UN in 1971 where it had occupied China's seat since the establishment of the world organization in 1945. The seat was given to the People's Republic of China, the communist regime in Beijing that defeated nationalist troops and drove them to the island of Taiwan in 1949.

Taiwan has been trying since 1993 to rejoin the UN and this year applied for membership under the name of Taiwan instead of Republic of China to distinguish itself from the mainland.

Unlike China, which is recognized by more than 170 countries, Taiwan has diplomatic ties with only 24 mostly small and poor nations.

Taiwan's UN bid seems futile because China is one of the five UN Security Council members and has the veto power to block Taiwan's admission, but Taipei believes that if it applies as a new nation and keeps applying, it will one day succeed.