US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called on United Nations member states to back Taiwan's "meaningful" participation in the UN system amid China's continued efforts to limit the island's international participation.
"...We encourage all UN Member States to join us in supporting Taiwan's robust, meaningful participation throughout the UN system and in the international community, consistent with our 'one China' policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances," Blinken said in a statement.
Arguing for Taiwan's "robust" participation in the UN, the top US diplomat said that the island's exclusion undermines the important work of the UN and its related bodies.
"The fact that Taiwan participated robustly in certain UN specialized agencies for the vast majority of the past 50 years is evidence of the value the international community places in Taiwan's contributions. Recently, however, Taiwan has not been permitted to contribute to UN efforts."
Despite the tens of millions of passengers traveling annually through its airports, Taiwan was not represented at the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) triennial assembly, Blinken noted.
"Although we have much to learn from Taiwan's world-class response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan was not at the World Health Assembly. Members of civil society from around the world engage every day in activities at the UN, but Taiwan's scientists, technical experts, business persons, artists, educators, students, human rights advocates, and others are blocked from entry and participating in these activities simply because of the passports they hold," he added.
His remarks come a few days after US and Taiwan held a high-level meeting on expanding the island's participation at the United Nations and in other international organizations.
The virtual meeting last Friday focused on helping Taiwan participate meaningfully at the UN, Taiwan Focus reported. The meeting was convened between high-level representatives from the American Institute in Taiwan and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO).
"The discussion focused on supporting Taiwan's ability to participate meaningfully at the UN and contribute its valuable expertise to address global challenges, including global public health, the environment, and climate change, development assistance, technical standards, and economic cooperation," US State Department said in a statement on October 22.
Taiwan left the UN in 1971 when China took its place. Since then, Taiwan has been excluded from participation in the General Assembly and the UN agencies, and other world forums.
( With inputs from ANI )
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