FAPA Initiates a Joint Letter to UN Secretary-General, Calling for Full UN Membership for “Taiwan” and Condemning China’s Misuse of UNGA Res. 2758
On September 24, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), together with 26 other overseas Taiwanese organizations, sent a joint letter to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres, calling for Taiwan’s admission to the UN as a “full Member State” under the name “Taiwan,” an end of incorrect UN references to Taiwan as a “province” or “part” of China, and allowing Taiwanese passport holders and journalists to enter the UN premises.
“Taiwan is already an independent sovereign country, and this is a long established ‘status quo’ of Taiwan. There are NO legal hurdles for Taiwan to join the United Nations. There is only one political obstacle — China’s long-sustained diplomatic bullying against Taiwan,” FAPA President Dr. Su-Mei Kao noted in a press release.
Taiwan possesses all four qualifications for statehood under the 1933 Montevideo Convention, which also stipulates that a state’s political existence is “independent of recognition by the other states,” the joint letter said.
Nonetheless, Taiwan has been excluded from the UN system for more than five decades. This grave injustice is mainly due to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) malicious efforts to conflate the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 with Beijing’s fictitious “One China principle,” which falsely claims that Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China” and that the PRC has jurisdiction over Taiwan.
The 1971 UNGA Resolution 2758 only resolved the question of “China’s representation” — but did not address the issue of “Taiwan’s representation” — in the UN system. UN Resolution 2758 did not establish the PRC’s territorial sovereignty over Taiwan, nor did it give the PRC government any right to represent Taiwan internationally. In fact, this resolution did not mention Taiwan at all.
Unfortunately, the PRC’s manipulation has made apparent gains in the UN system, including: “the UN’s unjust denials of Taiwan’s membership and participation, falsely based on Resolution 2758; the UN’s mistaken references to Taiwan as ‘Taiwan, province of China,’ or ‘integral part’ or ‘part’ of China; and the UN’s discriminatory ban on Taiwanese passport holders and journalists from entering the UN headquarters and other premises.”
“All these injustices and discriminations are blatant violations of the fundamental principles found in the UN Charter: universal membership, self-determination, sovereign equality of States, non-aggression, and non-discrimination,” the letter said.
At the end of the letter, FAPA and all co-signatory overseas Taiwanese organizations jointly urged the UN Secretary-General and UN officials to live up to the principles of the UN Charter, calling on them to cease blocking Taiwan’s admission to the UN, stop referring to Taiwan as a “province” or “part” of China, and allow Taiwanese nationals to enter the UN premises.
Since only “sovereign states” are allowed to become UN members, Taiwan’s formal application for UN membership has significance in international law, FAPA President Dr. Kao said, adding that the act constitutes Taiwan’s self-assertion and reaffirmation of its “independence” and “statehood.”
Read the full joint letter HERE.
Reference:
[1] FAPA
U.S. House Passes “STOP CCP Act” to Sanction Top CCP Members
On September 25, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Sanctioning Tyrannical and Oppressive People within the Chinese Communist Party Act” or the “STOP CCP Act” (H.R.3334), which sanctions top Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials responsible for increasing aggression against Taiwan, undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy, and violating human rights in China.
The text of the proposed law states that if the U.S. President decides that “sanctionable conduct” has taken place, then members of the CCP’s central committee — the party’s main leadership organization composed of about 200 permanent and 160 alternating members — shall be prohibited from buying or selling property in the United States.
Furthermore, those leading CCP cadres would be ineligible to receive an entry visa to the U.S. or would have their current visas revoked.
The sanctions outlined in the Act may also be applied to any “adult family members” of the top-ranking party member and their spouse.
The passing of the STOP CCP Act follows other legislation targeting top-ranking members of China’s authoritarian ruling party, many of whom own extensive financial assets in the U.S. despite party propaganda organs frequently denouncing the country.
On September 9, the House also passed the “Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act” that would “restrict financial services for certain immediate families” of CCP officials if China attacks Taiwan.
References:
[1] Focus Taiwan
[2] Taipei Times
Japan Sends Warship Through Taiwan Strait for First Time
The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) on September 25 made its first-ever warship transit through the Taiwan Strait in response to the intrusion by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s sovereign airspace in August, according to news outlet Yomiuri Shimbun.
The Japanese news platform reported that the JMSDF destroyer JS Sazanami sailed south through the Taiwan Strait on September 25, accompanied by naval ships from Australia and New Zealand. The ships were headed to the South China Sea to conduct a joint exercise there.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida ordered the transit as a response to the incursion by a People’s Liberation Army Y-9 reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s airspace on August 26, according to the report.
Waters beyond the outside boundary of any country’s territorial waters covering 12 nautical miles (22 km) from its coastal baseline are international waters. This rule is espoused by the United States and many other countries but is repeatedly challenged by China whenever a foreign military vessel transits through the Strait.
U.S. and Canadian warships have sailed through the Taiwan Strait regularly to assert freedom of navigation in international waters.
Earlier on September 13, a German frigate and a supply ship sailed through the Taiwan Strait, marking the first such transit in 22 years.
