Taipei, Jan. 25 (CNA) If Taiwan wants to actively engage in international participation in the absence of United Nations membership, it has to do its homework in order to better understand how international organizations work, scholars said over the weekend.
Having been forced out of the United Nations almost 40 years ago, Taiwan has come to realize the importance of participation in international organizations, especially U.N.-affiliated agencies, as a globalization movement is taking the world by storm, said National Chengchi University professor Vincent Chen.
The United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 2758 on Oct. 25, 1971 to recognize the People's Republic of China as "the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations" and expelled the representatives of the Republic of China.
"However, Taiwan still honors its responsibilities as a member of the international community and tries to make contributions even though it is not allowed into most international organizations," Chen said.
"The question is not why Taiwan should be allowed to participate in international organizations, but rather why shouldn't it, " said Chiu Ya-wen, an Assistant Research Fellow at the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI).
However, Taiwan has somehow lost its grip on how these organizations work, having been disconnected from the process for decades, Chiu said. That is why Taiwan needs to "do its homework" to better understand these international organizations, especially the UN and its affiliated agencies, she said.
"If we fail to do that, we won't know how these organizations function, what their decision-making processes are like, and what we can or cannot do in meetings, even if we gain recognition tomorrow as a UN full member," Chiu said.
Chen and Chiu are among more than a dozen scholars who have co-written a book on the UN's 15 specialized agencies.
Political issues aside, Taiwan can make a significant contribution to the international community, given the country's expertise in areas such as science and technology, medical service, public health management, and intellectual property rights (IPR) , said Hsu Chung-hsin, a law professor at National Cheng Kung University who wrote a chapter of a book on World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
Taiwan made a breakthrough in its quest for active international participation last May when it attended the World Health Assembly (WHA) as an observer.
"As encouraging and meaningful as the WHA case was, we'd still prefer that Taiwan interact with the rest of the world as a full and permanent member of all international organizations," Chiu said.
She urged all Taiwanese officials, students and citizens to try to learn more about the fundamentals and mechanisms of international organizations so "we can be well-prepared for any positive developments."