From Caribbean News Now

NEW YORK, USA — Taiwan said it has taken note of the deafening silence on the part of some of its Caribbean and Latin American diplomatic allies at the United Nations regarding its open bid to play a higher role in international affairs.

This was observed by Taiwanese media observing the proceedings at the UN headquarters in New York, where, up to Saturday, only two of Taiwan’s 22 diplomatic allies around the world expressed their open support for Taiwan to be allowed access to international bodies, including UN agencies.

Taiwan had approached its diplomatic allies – half of which are in the Caribbean and Latin America – to support its bid to attend the 2016 Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which opened on Tuesday at the ICAO headquarters in Montreal.

But apart from that bid – which has been stalled by Beijing – Taiwan has also always sought continuous support from its allies for participation in international bodies like the World Health organization (WHO), the UN Convention on Climate Change and other humanitarian and non-political world bodies.

However, while most of its allies do pledge quiet support to Taiwan every year, few have publicly declared that support during their annual addresses and statements to the UN General Assembly, where mainland China has sole diplomatic recognition.

This year has been no different.

Only two of Taiwan’s Caribbean diplomatic allies, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Kitts and Nevis, spoke in support of Taiwan’s participation in the international community, during the marathon Saturday, September 24 session.

Half of its 22 allies had already spoken-up for Taiwan during the General Assembly’s General Debate halfway through on Saturday: Nauru, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Paraguay, Haiti, Nicaragua, the Solomon Islands, Swaziland, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Tuvalu, and St Kitts and Nevis.

But even by then, press observers in Taiwan had noted that only two of its four Caribbean Community (CARICOM) allies had spoken in its favour, with one opting to remain silent – and at least six of its other regional allies in Latin America having also remained silent, or had not yet spoken.

A September 25 article by Timothy Huang and Evelyn Kao of the Taiwan-based CAN news agency, pointed to the tally of spoken allies to date, but noted: “Taiwan was not mentioned, however during a speech Saturday by another of its Caribbean allies, St Lucia, or by eight other allies (El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Burkina Faso, Sao Tome and Principe and the Holy See) that had spoken in previous days.”

The article noted that two other allies, Belize and Palau, had yet to speak at the general debate, which was due to run until Monday, September 26.

But Taiwan did have good news to report from Saturday’s UN proceedings.

During the general debate on Saturday, Dr Timothy Harris, prime minister of St Kitts and Nevis, was the only Caribbean leader to express support (on that day) for Taiwan’s participation in international bodies, including the United Nations.

“I know that Taiwan is eager to share its progress and development successes with the rest of the world,” Harris said.

“I therefore welcome new opportunities for Taiwan and its people to be warmly welcomed and integrated into the international fraternity of nations as a global player.”

Swaziland Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini also addressed the assembly that day and said the 23 million of the Republic of China (Taiwan) “should have the same fundamental rights as other people”.

“Taiwan is mostly unable to attend meetings and activities of UN specialized agencies, (and) the welfare of its people and by extension all mankind is adversely affected,” he said.

Dlamini concluded, “There is no doubt that their membership will add value to the family’s universal push to transform our world.” (The Diplomatic Courier)

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