This nation shall one day prevail at the UN

Lung-chu Chen

The 58th session of the UN General Assembly opened on Tuesday. This is another year in which we seek support for Taiwan's participation in the UN.

Since 1993, the government's primary strategy has been for our diplomatic allies to file a joint proposal asking that the General Assembly set up a special committee or working group to study how to let "the Republic of China" participate in the UN, or demanding that the General Assembly's 1971 Resolution 2758 be overturned or amended.

Due to China's maneuvers, however, the proposals have been rejected by the General Committee time and again and failed to make it onto the General Assembly's official agenda.

According to UN regulations, the agenda of the annual assembly session must be arranged by the General Committee. The proposal on Taiwan's participation must be approved by the committee before it is put on the assembly agenda for any substantive discussion or a vote. None of our previous bids have made it through the committee.

The committee consists of the president of the General Assembly and 21 vice presidents, which always include the five permanent Security Council members. The committee can conduct a non-substantive review of each topic proposed for the assembly's agenda, discuss whether to put it on the agenda and provide suggestions to the assembly, which then makes the final decision. Therefore, gaining majority support among the committee members is a precondition for putting any joint proposal on Taiwan's participation on the assembly agenda.

Seeking the support of the committee members is the first step in prying open the UN's door. We need to unite the power of all our diplomatic allies and continue to voice Taiwan's wish to join the world body.

At the same time, we must also strengthen civil society, realize human rights guarantees, improve the democratic system and promote technological and economic development so that the international community may be persuaded that Taiwan's participation in the UN will be a great help in maintaining international peace and security, and in increasing the welfare of all humanity.

Taiwan has the will and the capacity to join the UN. This demand is compatible with international justice. With perseverance, we will succeed.

Chen Lung-chu is chairman of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.