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DE RUCNDT #0786/01 2650100
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 220100Z SEP 07
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2643
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUCNOAS/OASGA COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 0210
RUEHKR/AMEMBASSY KOROR PRIORITY 0103
RUEHPL/AMEMBASSY PORT LOUIS PRIORITY 0112
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI PRIORITY 0063
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000786
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL UNGA CH TW
SUBJECT: UNGA KEEPS TAIWAN UN MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION OFF
AGENDA
REF: A) USUN 773 B) STATE 133171
USUN NEW Y 00000786 001.2 OF 002
1. (U) Summary: The UN General Assembly met in plenary
session September 21 to consider the report of the UN General
Committee containing its recommendations for the agenda of
the new (62nd) UNGA session which opened September 18. The
General Committee had decided not to inscribe the agenda item
regarding Taiwan's UN membership application. When the issue
arose in the plenary, 140 delegations took the floor to
discuss this portion of the report. Of these, 14 spoke in
favor of inscription, while the remaining 126 spoke in
support of the General Committee's recommendation not to
include the agenda item. The majority included all European
members of the Security Council (list of speakers in para 3
and 5). At the conclusion of the debate, the UNGA President
gaveled through without challenge the General Committee's
decision not to inscribe the agenda item on Taiwan. The
report of the General Committee was subsequently adopted
without a vote. End Summary.
2. (U) As reported ref A, the UN's General Committee decided
September 19 not to recommend the inclusion of a proposed
agenda item on Taiwan's membership application in the UN.
When the plenary session of the UNGA met September 21 to
consider the General Committee's recommendations, a lengthy
debate arose on the issue of this agenda item.
3. (U) The 15 delegations who spoke in favor of inscribing
an agenda item regarding Taiwan's UN application included:
Gambia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Palau, Burkina Faso,
the Solomon Islands, Paraguay, Belize, Tuvalu, Marshall
Islands, Swaziland, Sao Tome and Principe, Saint Kitts and
Nevis. These states based their arguments on the rule of law
and UN procedure. They argued that the Secretary-General's
decision not to receive Taiwan's application for membership
to the UN over the summer was arbitrary, baseless, and a
disappointment. They also said that the refusal to consider
Taiwan's application by the UN Secretariat and the majority
of UN members states is anti-democratic and constitutes a
violation of the fundamental human rights of the 23 million
people of Taiwan. They argued that UNGA Resolution 2758
(1971) is not the final decision of the issue of the status
of Taiwan. Several called for the General Committee to
reconsider its decision.
4. (U) The majority of member states opposed inclusion of
the agenda item, citing UNGA Resolution 2758 (1971) and
support for the "One-China" policy. A smaller group
explicitly asserted that Taiwan is an integral part of China.
When the session opened, some 50 states had arranged to
speak. Over the course of the day, more states joined the
speaker's list, including a late afternoon decision by many
members of the EU to speak out. Per ref B, USUN did not
speak. (The U.S. position has been posted to USUN's
website.) Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand also did
not speak. There was no vote called on the matter. At the
conclusion of the debate, the Chair stated that he understood
the wish of the General Assembly is not to include the agenda
item and declared the matter decided.
5. (U) Delegations who spoke in opposition included: Cuba,
China, Venezuela, Cambodia, Mauritania, Colombia, Egypt,
Rwanda, Micronesia, Burma, Russia, Brazil, East Timor,
Zimbabwe, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Gabon, Cyprus, North Korea,
Guinea, Belarus, Argentina, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Morocco,
Greece, Tanzania, Tunisia, Malaysia, Serbia, Central African
Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Djibouti, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Syrian Arab Republic, South Africa, Yemen,
Congo, Philippines, Montenegro, Uruguay, Moldova, Bolivia,
Cameroon, Iran, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Algeria, Kyrgyzstan,
Mozambique, Kuwait, Nepal, Peru, Burundi, Spain, Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Cote D'Ivoire, Mauritius, Senegal,
Chile, Indonesia, Tonga, Angola, Lao, Papua New Guinea,
Ukraine, Sierra Leone, Comoros, Uzbekistan, Romania, Togo,
Jamaica, Barbados, Somalia, Niger, Sudan, Eritrea, Antigua
and Barbuda, Bangladesh, United Kingdom, France, Italy,
Albania, Namibia, Ecuador, Malta, Lebanon, Madagascar,
Mongolia, India, Republic of Korea, Suriname, Libya, Benin,
Turkmenistan, Lithuania, Cape Verde, Afghanistan, Bhutan,
Luxembourg, Maldives, Lesotho, Iceland, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Austria, Ireland, Denmark, Portugal, Poland, Fiji, Finland,
Ghana, Switzerland, Uganda, Armenia, Turkey, Hungary,
Germany, Belgium, Slovenia, Netherlands, Botswana, Slovakia,
Czech Republic.
USUN NEW Y 00000786 002.2 OF 002
KHALILZAD