Taiwan presses ahead with bid to join United Nations

The EU has hailed the presidential election in Taiwan at the weekend - and reiterated its support for the country's democratic development.

The opposition Kuomintang's (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou won the election with 7.65 million votes, 2.21 million votes more than his rival, Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic  Progressive Party (DPP), who attracted 5.44 million votes.

According to a statement by Slovenia, current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, the EU hopes that the upcoming inauguration of a new Taiwan government will provide both sides of the Taiwan Strait with a “good opportunity” to resume talks and improve bilateral relations.

The statement went on to say that the EU will continue to support Taiwan's participation in professional multilateral forums where statehood is not a prerequisite.

The EU has also called for cross-strait authorities to take "concrete steps", including trust building, so that Taiwan will be able to participate in such forums in the future.

Further reaction to the outcome of the election came from German foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier who said on Sunday he hoped for a “peaceful dialogue” between Taipei and Beijing.

“The German government hails the election in Taiwan. Germany supports the democratic values of Taiwan and the economic development of the island,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Taiwanese government has vowed to press ahead with its long-running efforts to join the UN.

The pledge comes after a referendum on Saturday, put forward by the DPP and which asked Taiwanese whether the country should join the UN under the name “Taiwan”, failed to gain the required participation level needed to be considered valid.

A second referendum, proposed by the KMT party, asking whether Taiwan should join the UN under the island’s official name, Republic of China, or any other practical name, also failed to break the 50 per cent threshold.

In the wake of the result, the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) stressed that the defeat of the two questions will not affect the people of Taiwan and the government’s determination to pursue UN membership.

Taiwan has failed in 15 consecutive attempts to apply for membership of the New York-based body because of China’s opposition.

The ministry attributed the failure of the referendums to the requirement that 50 per cent of eligible voters, or 8.66 million people, cast ballots for the questions to be valid, a much higher ratio than in most countries.

The ministry noted, however, that some 5.53 million voters endorsed the DPP referendum and 4.96 million voters voted for the KMT referendum.

The ministry says that as an independent, sovereign country, Taiwan is completely qualified for being a member of the UN and its affiliated organisations.

Noting that the common aspiration of Taiwan’s people is to join the international community on an equal footing, the ministry said that the government will continue to push the UN bid to enhance Taiwan’s international profile.

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