UN DEBATE ON TAIWAN MEMBERSHIP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 USUN NEW YORK 000773 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y ADDED THREE ADDRESSES SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL UNGA CH TW SUBJECT: UN DEBATE ON TAIWAN MEMBERSHIP REF: USUN 741 USUN NEW Y 00000773 001.6 OF 003 ¶1. (U) Summary: When determining the agenda for the 62nd UN General Assembly September 19, the General Committee considered whether to include the agenda item "Urging the Security Council to process Taiwan's membership application pursuant to provision rules of procedure 59 and 60." Following a procedural vote ,24(U.S.)-3, in favor of the traditional two-plus-two speaking arrangement on the matter, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Solomon Islands spoke in favor of inscribing the item, while China and Egypt spoke against. The Chair (UNGA President Kerim) subsequently ruled that because there was no agreement, the General Committee would not recommend the inscription of this agenda item onto the Agenda of General Assembly. General Committee members Gambia, Honduras and Palau objected to the two-plus-two speaking arrangement. Following the Committee's consideration of the item, Gambia again took the floor and said those states who favored Taiwan's membership in the UN had every right to raise the issue in the General Assembly and promised "this issue will not die a natural death." End Summary ¶2. (U) The General Committee of the General Assembly met September 19 to consider which items would be inscribed on the UNGA agenda and to which UNGA committee they would be allocated. When the Committee reached the proposed agenda item "Urging the Security Council to process Taiwan's membership application pursuant to provision rules of procedure 59 and 60," the Chair attempted to recall the agreement reached during informal consultations to address this matter via a two-plus-two speaking arrangement (reftel). In recalling this informal agreement, the Chair noted that only members of the General Committee were permitted to take the floor. In response, Palau accused the Chair of failing to apply rule 43 of the General Assembly's rules of procedure, which states that members who request that an item be included can attend and participate in the General Committee meeting.(Explanatory Note: The Chair had proposed limiting the debate on the speaking arrangement to the members of the General Committee. Only members of the General Committee can determine procedures, such as speaking arrangements, for the committee. Rule 43 permits UN member states who are not members of the Committee to participate in substantive discussion of the item that members request to inscribe. It was not clear in the subsequent discussion whether or not delegations were genuinely confused by this rule. End Note.) ¶3. (U) Palau's intervention sparked an exchange of views on the speaking arrangement. Nineteen delegations spoke in favor of the two-plus-two speaking arrangement (Sri Lanka, Cyprus, Russia, Iraq, Benin, Jamaica, Mauritius, Sudan, Malaysia, Senegal, Egypt, Uruguay, the Bahamas, Turkey, France, Finland, Botswana, the DRC, Iceland). In addition to Palau, Gambia and Honduras spoke against this arrangement. Sri Lanka explained that Rule 43 permitted member states who are not members of the Committee to speak in favor of inscribing the agenda item according to the two-plus-two formula. Sudan went further than most, stating that Taiwan is an integral part of China. Although it was clear a majority supported the proposed speaking arrangement, the chair called for a vote and the procedure was adopted by 24-3-0. (Note: The USG voted for the two-plus-two speaking arrangement. End Note.) ¶4. (U) Following the debate on the speaking arrangement, the four speakers took the floor. St. Vincent and the Grenadines USUN NEW Y 00000773 002.6 OF 003 spoke first in favor of inscription the item calling for the UN's consideration of Taiwan's membership, and argued that the committee was flouting procedure and marginalizing small states with the two-plus-two procedure. The representative argued that under Article 4 of the UN Charter, the Taiwanese qualify for membership to the United Nations. Recalling that Secretary-General Ban had rejected a July 19th application SIPDIS for Taiwan's UN membership as unreceivable, the representative of St. Vincent also noted that UN's Office of Legal Affairs had stated the UN considers Taiwan an integral part of the People's Republic of China. She accused the Secretariat of taking a role as arbiter of political issues. SIPDIS The representative regretted that member states are content to ignore the plight of 23 million Taiwanese. When the Chair reminded her to keep to the agreed six-minute limit for speeches,she expressed strong dissatisfaction, claiming that the UN is limiting debate on this critical issue. ¶5. (U) The representative of the Solomon Islands followed and spoke in support of inscription. He also criticized the alleged lack of observation of rules and procedures by the Committee. He argued that the General Assembly must listen to both sides of this argument, even if it means examining the legality of UNGA Resolution 2758 (1971). He stated that the Taiwan policy is out of touch with current geopolitical realities and undermines the established principle of self-determination. He argued that although the UN has dealt with similar divisions in Korea and Germany, it pretends that Taiwan does not exist. ¶6. (U) As agreed, a representative from the PRC (China's Security Council coordinator Li Junhua) then spoke in opposition. He made three points: 1) Taiwan has been part of China since antiquity; 2) those who advocated Taiwan's independence are the "biggest threat to peace and security" in the region; and 3) UNGA consideration of this matter would violate the UN principles of respect for state sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Chinese representative concluded: "this is purely an internal affair to be resolved by the Chinese people." ¶7. (U) Egypt also spoke in opposition, basing the GOE's position on UNGA Resolution 2758 (1971). Egyptian PermRep Amb AbdelAziz said that inscription of this proposal in the General Assembly would be a waste of time and resources, and that the democratic decision taken by the committee should be respected. Responding to previous criticism by St. Vincent on the marginalization of small states, Egypt stated that there is no distinction between large and small countries; each country has one vote. ¶8. (U) Following the interventions, the Chairman concluded that the item would not be inscribed in the agenda due to the lack of agreement to do so. The representative from Gambia then attempted to return to the issue of Taiwan, stating that countries have "every right" to raise this matter in the General Assembly. He characterized opposition to consideration of Taiwan's membership as "political apartheid." China, raising a point of order, noted the Committee had concluded consideration of this issue. After the Chairman recalled the previous discussion on the matter, the representative from Gambia ceded the floor by stating that the issue "will not die a natural death." ¶9. (U) The General Committee Report to the General Assembly (i.e, the organization of work, the adoption of agenda and the allocation of items to committees as recommended by the General Committee) is scheduled to be considered by the USUN NEW Y 00000773 003.6 OF 003 Plenary on September 21. The Chinese are asking selected delegations to vote in favor of the program of work and to speak out in opposition to any attempt to amend the program to inscribe the agenda item on Taiwan. The Chinese have requested delegations to vote against inscription, if a vote is forced on the issue. KHALILZAD