Taiwan’s exclusion from the multilateral system - submission to UK Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry

Summary

In response to a call for evidence from the UK House of Common Foreign Affairs Committee for its inquiry into “International Relations within the Multilateral System”, Andrew Yeh put forward several recommendations for the UK to support Taiwan’s participation in the multilateral system. Yeh makes the following recommendations to the UK government:

• Continue to push for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN and its sub-organisations, while also supporting Taiwan’s efforts to find alternative forms of engagement with like-minded partners;

• Advocate for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in all of the UN specialised agencies for which statehood is not a prerequisite for participation;

• Push for engagements with Taiwan through the ICAO and the IMO, given Taiwan’s important role in the global aviation and maritime sectors;

• State its opposition to the PRC’s misuse of UNGA Resolution 2758 which has been key to the PRC’s narrative that its sovereignty and territorial claims over Taiwan are a settled issue, claims which could be central in the PRC’s justification of any aggressions it may take against Taiwan in the future;

• Attend side-meetings with representatives from Taiwan outside of conventions from which Taiwan is excluded, such as the ‘Taiwan Day’ event running parallel to the COP26 conference in Glasgow;

• Deepen its engagement with the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF), especially in areas such as supply chain resilience, renewable energy deployment and cyber-security;

• Support Taiwan’s application to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP);

• Arrange for Taiwan’s engagement with the G7, OECD, and other non-UN forums; and,

• Voice its support for any future attempts by Taiwan to join the ICC.