YOU Si-kun: Thankful to diplomatic allies for their unswerving support to Taiwan to defend universal values and global peace and stability.
On the morning of November 16, Legislative Yuan President YOU Si-kun met with a delegation of permanent representatives to the United Nations from Taiwan's allies accompanied by legislators Lo Chih-cheng, Hsieh Yi-fong and Cynthia Wu, Secretary General Lin Jih-jia, International Affairs Department Director Calvin C.F. Lin, and Ambassador James Lee of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York / Head of UN Affairs Task Force in New York.
In his remarks, President YOU expressed his delight to welcome distinguished guests from allies. On behalf of Taiwan’s congress, he extended sincere welcome to them. He recalled the first month he took office in 2020, he welcomed the permanent representatives to United Nations from Taiwan's allies led by Ambassador Inga Rhonda King. Therefore, he was especially delighted to welcome the delegation members.
President YOU then thanked all ambassadors for their longstanding support for Taiwan in the United Nations, not only in the General Debate to urge the UN system to include Taiwan’s participation, but also stressing the importance to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. In addition, they also sent jointly or individually letters to the UN Secretary General to support Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations and UN specialized agencies. Through their active efforts, the Republic of China and Taiwan are seen in the voluntary national review referred in the United Nations this year. The nomenclature of “a province of China” to downgrade Taiwan’s sovereignty is no longer seen in the report. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, he wanted to express his sincere appreciation to all distinguished guests.
President YOU continued to state that China misquoted UN Resolution 2758 to claim its sovereignty over Taiwan and claimed that the international community recognizes the so-called “one China principle” to block Taiwan’s international participation. China used every mean to severe the diplomatic ties between Taiwan and its diplomatic allies. President You stated that the San Francisco Peace Treaty entered into force on April 28, 1952 signed by 49 countries is the international legal framework that handles the status of Taiwan. After comprehensive legislative elections, presidential elections and three alternations of political parties in power, Taiwan has become an independent sovereign country in accordance with the principles of sovereignty belongs to the entire people of the country and the UN self-determination.
President YOU further elaborated that in accordance with the international law, Taiwan and Penghu do not belong to China. Taiwan has never been ruled by the People’s Republic of China. It is an ironclad fact that Taiwan is by no means a part of China. Democratic Taiwan and authoritarian China are not subject to each other. This is a longstanding fact of the international community, but also the status quo of the Taiwan Strait. He urged the United Nations to uphold the principle that no one should be left behind when discussing about global issues. Only Taiwan’s elected government can have the rights to represent 23 million people of Taiwan in the international community such as the United Nations and its specialized agencies.
President YOU sentimentally pointed out that after China’s economic rise, it adopted the strategy of repression at home and expansion abroad, posing a severe threat to global peace and stability. As the only democracy in the Mandarin-speaking community, Taiwan is facing CCP’s economic coercion, diplomatic isolation, military intimidation, cyberattack and misinformation. An increasing number of Chinese military aircraft has been detected to harass Taiwan and cross Air Defense Identification Zone. However, Taiwan is not China’s ultimate destination. China attempts to become a global hegemony. In the Putin-Xi meeting on March 23 this year, Xi and Putin reached a consensus to initiate a change that had never seen for a century in an attempt to change the existing international order. He stressed that the international community should be aware of this issue. The Taiwan Strait issue is not just a issue for Taiwan, but also the Indo-Pacific issue as well as a global issue. He urged the global democratic allies to focus on this issue to fight against China’s threats to the entire world.
In closing, President YOU once again thanked Taiwan’s allies to thank their support to Taiwan in the United Nations. He hoped to deepen Taiwan’s relations with allies to defend global pace, stability and development. President You prepared a collection of books entitled the Englis version of “Century Pursuit of Democracy of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan” to each member of the delegation to further enhance their understanding about San Francisco Peace Treaty and the history of the pursuit of democracy of the people of Taiwan.
In her remarks, Ambassador Inga Rhonda King of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines first of all, expressed her sincere appreciation to President YOU and all distinguished guests on behalf of the entire delegation. As Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will continue to speak for Taiwan in the international arena. She hoped that during this trip, she would have firsthand understanding about Taiwan. She continued to state that Taiwan plays a key role in global geopolitics, economics, high-tech innovation and the value of democracy. All the countries they respectively represented are not large in size, they uphold the spirits and principles of the UN Charter. Taiwan’s diplomatic allies understand very well that the UN Resolution No. 2758 only handled the issue of China’s representation in the United Nations. It did not refer to the issue of the representation of the 23 million people of Taiwan. She especially mentioned that the UN Deputy Secretary General clearly stated to include Taiwan in various UN mechanisms and activities in a more creative way to be line with the principle of “no one should be left behind in discussing about global issues” to obtain 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals. She stressed that Taiwan’s importance has transcended national border, in particular its strengths in the fields of global economics, high-tech innovation and geopolitics. She concluded her remarks that as President You received the delegation that day, US President Biden was also meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. She specifically asked President You about the development after Bi-Xi meeting and its impact to the entire world.
President YOU responded by saying that China-US competition is different from that before 2018. In the past, the two countries were strategic partners. However, after the US National Security Strategy was issued in 2017, China was defined by the US as a competitor. It has been over five years since US initiated China-US trade war. The value system of democracy, freedom and human rights represented by US is totally different from the authoritarian system represented by China and Russia. It is unlikely to see them to have close cooperation. In spite of it, it is very important for the two countries to have high ranking and substantive dialogue to avoid a war and to ensure peace.
Legislators from different party caucuses expressed their welcome to the delegation members and their longstanding support and friendship to Taiwan. As they listen to the opinions and suggestions of the delegation members, both sides exchanged views on issues related with global democracy, freedom, human rights and fighting against authoritarianism. The meeting lasted for about 40 minutes and concluded after mutual presentation of gifts and group photos with an amicable atmosphere.
Note: Guest list
- 1.H.E. Amb. Inga Rhonda King of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
- 2.H.E. Amb. Amatlain Elizabeth Kabua of the Marshall Islands
- 3.H.E. Amb. Margo Reminisse Deiye of Nauru
- 4.H.E. Amb. Carlos Fuller of Belize and his wife
- Chargé d'Affaires José Eduardo Pereira Sosa of Paraguay and his wife