The United Nations has again ruled out a UN role for Taiwan, a Taipei official said today, despite a recent thaw in relations with China which considers the island a breakaway province.
A UN subcommittee decided on Wednesday in New York it would not let the General Assembly consider Taiwan's request for permission to join UN activities, an island foreign ministry official said.
Fifteen attempts by Taiwan to join the United Nations have failed, most recently last year. The United Nations ousted Taiwan in favour of China in 1971.
This time, Taiwan was not applying for membership, just to take part in unspecified UN "activities".
China has seen self-ruled, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory rather than as a separate country since the island broke away from Mao Zedong's Communists amid civil war in 1949. Statehood is a requirement for UN membership.
But since taking office in May, Taiwan's president Ma Ying-jeou has declared a diplomatic truce with China, which has about 170 allies worldwide compared to Taiwan's 23.
"The foreign ministry expresses regret," deputy minister Andrew Hsia told a news conference.
Reuters