This years United Nations application.

It's that time of year again, Taiwan has applied every year since 1993 to join the United Nations, and each year the application is opposed by China. Details on last years bid and some background can be seen here on a post from last september, but briefly, last years bid was unique in that Taiwan applied to join under the name "Taiwan", previous bids were under Taiwans official name "Republic of China". This year the island is trying something different again, asking the UN to consider the fundamental rights of the 23 million people of Taiwan to "Participate Meaningfully in the Activities of the U.N. Specialized Agencies", and is not a specific request for full UN membership. This is a far more moderate approach, and is partly due to the new KMT government coming to power, replacing the staunchly pro independence DPP party, whose former president of Taiwan and his family are under investigation for alledgedly sending some $US20 million of into private offshore bank accounts, as well as other alledged "wrong doings". Ex President Chen has already admitted falsifying past campaign expenses and sending campaign contributions into offshore bank accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands, although he says that his wife sent the money without his knowledge.