UN rejects Taiwan membership application

Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya has denounced the representatives of three countries, including the Solomon Islands, for submitting an application letter for UN membership, on behalf of Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian. He called the move an act of absurd splittism that China firmly opposes, at an interview on Monday, July 23, 2007 at the UN's headquarters in New York.
July 24 - China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya has highly praised the UN's rejection of an application from the Taiwanese authorities for "joining the United Nations in the name of Taiwan."
Wang Guangya Monday told reporters that it was an absurd act for the representatives of three countries, including the Solomon Islands, to submit an application letter for UN membership, on behalf of Taiwan leader Chen Shui-bian, to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon last Thursday.
The ambassador says the Chinese government firmly opposes this blatant attempt at splitting China, reiterating that articles of the UN Charter stipulate only a sovereign state can apply for a UN membership, and Taiwan is part of China. He added that Taiwan is ineligible to join the UN in any name or in any way.
Xinhua News Agency reports that a spokesperson from the UN secretariat confirmed on Monday that it had returned Chen Shui-bian's letter one day after it received it, according to UN's General Assembly Resolution 2758.
Wang Guangya says the immediate return of the letter helps guarantee the solemnity of the UN Charter as well as the authority of the UN.
The ambassador also expressed his belief that the Chinese government will continue to gain the support of the UN, and its member states, in the cause of maintaining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.