The Prime Minister of St. Vincent, Ralph Gonsalves, has issued a passionate plea for lasting peace across the Taiwan Straits and, crucially, for Taiwan’s inclusion in specialized agencies of the United Nations.
The statement, delivered during his address at the U.N’s 80th assembly, underscored the urgent need to address a decades-old geopolitical impasse.
The Prime Minister didn’t mince words, labeling the continued exclusion of Taiwan from key UN bodies a “lingering absurdity.”
He highlighted the island nation’s vibrant democracy, its 23 million citizens’ desire for self-determination, and its remarkable economic achievements. “It’s frankly baffling,” he stated, “that a society with ‘first world’ living standards, a beacon of peace and innovation, remains sidelined from global conversations on vital issues like health, climate change, and aviation safety.”
Taiwan’s expertise and resources, particularly in areas like pandemic response and technological innovation, could be invaluable to these global bodies.
The call for peace comes against a backdrop of increasingly strained relations between mainland China and Taiwan. China views Taiwan as a renegade province, while Taiwan maintains it is an independent, sovereign state. This difference in opinion, rooted in the Chinese Civil War of the late 1940s, has been a constant source of tension in the region, with periodic escalations in military rhetoric and activity.
Gonsalves concluded his statement with a renewed call for peaceful dialogue and a commitment to working with all stakeholders to find a lasting solution. “It is high time,” he emphasized, “that this lingering mid-20th century issue be peacefully resolved so that the Taiwanese people can take their rightful place in the comity of nations.”
