USA/TAIWAN: TAIWAN TO MAKE BID FOR UN RECOGNITION

(15 Sep 1996) Mandarin/Eng/Nat United Nations members gather in New York next week for their 51st General Assembly. One country is hoping to be the focus of attention. Taiwan is once again making a bid for UN recognition - against the wishes of Mainland China. The UN's 51st General Assembly begins next week - and Taiwan is once again trying to raise the issue of recognition. A small group of Taiwanese leave for New York today (Sunday) to publicize Taiwan's isolation in the world community. Led by Annette Lu, a Presidential Policy Advisor to Lee Teng-hui, they will hold events in New York to gather support for Taiwan's UN recognition bid. Amongst their plans - donation of over $160,000 US to help the impoverished UN, all of the money raised from individual donations in Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Government was a founding member of the United Nations - serving for over 20 years as a "permanent" member of the UN Security Council. Representation of China became disputed after the Nationalists fled the Mainland for Taiwan in 1949 after the Communist takeover. In 1971 The UN passed Resolution 2758 allowing The People's Republic of China take up China's seat and effectively forcing Taiwan out. Supporters of Taiwan's entry into the UN stress Taiwan's bustling economy and 21 million population shouldn't be held back by one country. SOUNDBITE: ENGLISH The UN - is it China's UN or the world's UN? The UN belongs to the world, if a single member state manipulate such a big organisation, then it is a shame. But I still believe the UN belongs to the United Nation and so it shouldn't be under Beijing's control. SUPERCAPTION: ANNETTE LU. But others believe such tactics can only worsen already tense relations between Taiwan and China. SOUNDBITE: (MANDARIN) Our space in the international arena depends on Cross Straits relations. Tensions in either Cross Straits relations or foreign relations affect each other. So I think both sides of the Straits should try for an improvement in relations. Once the Cross Straits relations are better tensions in foreign relations will reduce. We are urging the government to talk to Communist China and for both sides to freeze the number of recognised countries. SUPERCAPTION: New Party lawmaker CHEN Kuei-miao Taiwan's place on the world stage has come under the spotlight recently. In 1995 America infuriated China by allowing Lee Teng-hui to visit his alma mater Cornell University to receive an honorary degree. China followed the visit with 9 months of missile tests and war games off Taiwan to influence the island's first presidential elections. But military tensions and China's diplomatic pressure on other countries only act as encouragement to Lu and her supporters. SOUNDBITE: ENGLISH This is a small token, but it's a strong indication of how the Taiwanese people are in favour of peace. SUPERCAPTION: ANNETTE LU And for all the difficulties along the way, many Taiwanese remain determined to reach that goal, because as Lu says, they are seeing progress in making more friends in the world every year, despite China's persistant blocking tactics. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...