Taipei, June 24 (CNA) Taiwan has been seeking more meaningful participation in international organizations, targeting observer status in the annual assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in September, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official (MOFA) said Thursday.
"The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooeration forum (APEC) also serves as a good platform to engage in regional and trans-Pacific affairs and launch initiatives for Taiwan, so we should take advantage of it, " said Lily Hsu, deputy director-general of the MOFA's Department of International Organization, in a press briefing.
The flexible diplomacy and the diplomatic truce President Ma Ying-jeou advocates have helped Taiwan gain international space, evidenced by its landmark participation as an observer in the World Health Assembly (WHA) in 2009 and 2010, she said, adding that the eased tension across the Taiwan Strait has also reduced other countries' concerns about the cross-strait situation.
Taiwan is an official member of 21 international organizations and an observer in 30 others, a far cry from the situation in the early 1970s, when Taiwan was able to participate in fewer than 10 international organizations after it was expelled from the United Nations in 1971, Hsu said.
While the eased tension does not mean Taiwan can participate in any organization in which it wants to, the rapprochement atmosphere has resulted in more comfortable interaction between Taiwan and China under APEC -- a forum of 21 Pacific Rim member economies that collaborate on regional trade liberalization -- she said.
Since the WHA breakthrough, Hsu said, the government has targeted participation in the ICAO and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as its next goals and has received positive responses.
The European Parliament, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, as well as 17 U.S. State Congresses, have all passed resolutions in the past few months in support of Taiwan's participation in the ICAO assembly that will take place in Montreal, Canada, while Taiwan's diplomatic allies Nicaragua, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Panama have all publicly voiced their support, Hsu said.
She declined to elaborate in detail about Taiwan's efforts to secure the ICAO observer status.
Taiwan has been also working on the mission in the APEC Economic Leadership Meeting that will take place in Japan's Yokohama in November, Hsu said. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J