After the new government took office, apart from being briefed on our diplomatic partners and on countries with which we don't have diplomatic relations, I also looked at civic organizations with which the MOFA has contacts and which are frequently active in the international community. I discovered that the World League for Freedom and Democracy is a well-run international organization with a complete organizational structure, is a member of the UN's Department of Public Information, and attends the Annual DPI/NGO Conference every year. This year too it was planning to attend the millennium edition of the conference. Therefore when Professor Peng invited me to attend, I agreed to join the delegation as an advisor to the league.
The MOFA was very excited about my attending the conference, because we can say that this is the first time a MOFA official has entered the UN headquarters building in the last 30 years. Everyone thought it was a great breakthrough. I also took the opportunity to personally get an understanding of how the DPI/NGO Conference works, and of the direction of mainstream international thinking, and I collected a lot of relevant information in the form of conference materials. Thus we gained a great deal from attending. One of the main topics at this year's conference was the issue of how to go about monitoring how governments put into action their ideals and their promises to their peoples. Another main focus of discussion was the partnership between NGOs, national governments and the UN itself. These are all very important things for Taiwan to be thinking about, so we ought to participate more.
The UN itself is an organization of national governments. At present we are excluded, and that is very difficult to change. NGOs represent a very good point of access. Today there are a tremendous number of NGOs. They hold frequent conferences, and they have an ever-growing influence on governments. For example, a couple of months ago I went to Warsaw to attend the International Forum on Democracy. The forum was attended by foreign ministers from over 100 countries, but it was also an NGO conference. Those attending included the great American entrepreneur George Soros, who funded the forum, the former US ambassador to Beijing, Winston Lord, and so on-all high-ranking, highly influential people.
In other words, NGOs are very broad church. Retired diplomats, business-people, social campaigners, academics and all kinds of foundations may be involved in NGOs. NGOs can be more powerful than governments, so governments certainly can t afford to ignore them.
At present, apart from the World League for Freedom and Democracy, a number of other NGOs in Taiwan are associated with the UN, including women's, aboriginal and academic groups. We hope that in the future more groups will actively develop an international profile, and apply to register with the UN.
Another way people in Taiwan can actively participate in international affairs is by encouraging people of ability and influence in society to apply to join the UN's own NGOs, such as population, human rights, peace and environmental groups, so that they can contribute their knowledge, and at the same time let others better understand people from Taiwan.
We are living in an age of people power, and the UN is responding to the trends of our time. In the past, NGOs merely played a monitoring role at the UN, but now the trend is towards their involvement in policy implementation. Hence in our future approach to the UN, besides continuing to press for admission by mobilizing our diplomatic partners to speak on our behalf, we should also actively seek to make the most of the power of our people.
In particular, in the age of the Internet, universal values such as humanitarianism and human rights transcend the narrow confines of national boundaries and nationalism. The Taiwan issue is one of basic human rights. In other words, the people of Taiwan are being denied the right to speak and vote in international affairs. We can use the Internet to gain the support of international champions of justice.
Furthermore, among Taiwanese compatriots living overseas there are many who opposed the old government, but are willing to support the new. These people are excellent partners through whom we can participate in UN NGOs. We shouldn't be afraid of the Chinese communist regime's attempts to suppress such activity. They won't last forever, and they can't discourage everyone who supports us.
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MOFA Research and Planning Board vice-chair Maysing Yang, who lived for many years in New York, is shown here with her son, Broadway musical actor and producer Welly Yang.
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