Taiwan and the United States on Friday held a high level meeting on expanding Taiwan’s participation at the United Nations and in other international organizations so that it can contribute to the world on global challenges.

The virtual meeting, featuring representatives of the U.S. Department of State and Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), focused on helping Taiwan participate meaningfully at the U.N.

The discussion also focused on supporting Taiwan’s ability to contribute its expertise to address global challenges, including public health, the environment and climate change, as well as economic cooperation, according to press releases issued by both sides.

According to the U.S. State Department, American participants in the forum reiterated Washington’s commitment to Taipei’s meaningful participation at the World Health Organization and U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and discussed ways to highlight Taiwan’s ability to contribute on a wide range of issues.

Participants also lauded the significant expansion this year of the Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF), demonstrating Taiwan’s willingness and capacity to address global challenges through multilateral collaboration, it said.

The GCTF was launched by Taiwan and the U.S. in June 2015 to help bring Taiwan’s expertise to the global stage and promote multilateralism, as China continued its efforts to limit Taiwan’s international participation.

Japan joined the platform in 2019 as a full partner. Since then, a number of European countries and Australia have also participated in GCTF events.

Meanwhile, for Taiwan’s part, MOFA Secretary General Lily Hsu (???) expressed gratitude toward the U.S.’ long-term support to Taiwan, while stressing that Taiwan’s government will continue to professionally and practically contribute to the world.

Participants of the virtual meeting also included American Institute in Taiwan Deputy Director Jeremy Cornforth, State Department Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Organizations Hugo Yon, Deputy Assistant Secretary for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia Rick Waters, Deputy Assistant Secretaries for International Organizations Nerissa Cook and Jane Rhee, and Taiwan’s deputy representative to the U.S. Wang Liang-yu (???).

Taiwan, officially called the Republic of China, left the U.N. in 1971 when the People’s Republic of China took its place, and has since been excluded from participation in the General Assembly and the U.N.’s special agencies.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel