[governance] Taiwanese nationals and the IGF

[Fouad Bajwa (via governance Mailing List)]

Maybe use remote participation and express this concern collectively?

On Fri, Sep 6, 2019 at 2:51 PM Tapani Tarvainen <tapani.tarvainen at effi.org>
wrote:

> Just a minor point but Taiwan is not the only country that isn't a
> member of the UN (others include Vatican, Palestine, Kosovo, Niue,
> Cook Islands at least). If someone wants to push this it might be
> better to frame it more generically rather being than just about
> Taiwan.
>
> Tapani
>
> On Sep 06 08:44, ian.peter at ianpeter.com (ian.peter at ianpeter.com) wrote:
>
> > I wish there was an easy answer to this Michael.
> >
> > But as I understand it, we are dealing with a whole-of-UN problem,
> > not just an IGF one. For whatever historic reasons, and they are to
> > do with recognition of the Peoples Republic of China, Taiwan is not
> > recognised by the UN as a nation state - although they would like to
> > be and have a few allies pushing their cause.
> >
> > I believe it goes back to 1971. China's attitude has been "The
> > United Nations is an international organization composed of
> > sovereign states.Taiwan as a province of China is completely not
> > qualified and has no right to participate in it. Due to the
> > well-known reasons, the Taiwan authorities illegally usurped China's
> > UN seat for as long as 22 years"
> > (http://ae.china-embassy.org/eng/zt/twwt/t150866.htm)
> >
> > But having said that - others might be able to provide more
> > background - since IGF is not a meeting of nation states, but also
> > includes civil society and other stakeholders, one would think there
> > might  be a way around it. Yes, to register one needs a passport -
> > maybe an ally of Taiwan would be prepared to issue passports or
> > acceptab;e documents for Taiwanese citizens?
> >
> > I don't know how we could get around this, just brainstorming. In an
> > ideal IGF, stateless people would have a voice and be able to
> > attend, subject of course to standard security clearances. Maybe MAG
> > could explore this?
> >
> >
> > Ian Peter
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ------ Original Message ------
> > From: "Michael J. Oghia" <governance at lists.riseup.net>
> > To: "IGC" <governance at lists.riseup.net>
> > Sent: 6/09/2019 5:49:07 PM
> > Subject: [governance] Taiwanese nationals and the IGF
> >
> > >Hi everyone,
> > >
> > >I'd like to raise a serious concern I have regarding the IGF. A
> > >contact of mine in Taiwan is having trouble registering for the
> > >IGF. She solely has a Taiwanese passport, but the IGF, as a UN
> > >event, can only register individuals who have a passport from a UN
> > >member state (of which Taiwan is not a member). I checked with the
> > >IGF Secretariat, and unfortunately, there's not much they can do
> > >about it.
> > >
> > >I know that the politics surrounding China and Taiwan are
> > >contentious, however, this essentially means that she (and anyone
> > >else) from Taiwan – more than 23.5 million people – are
> > >essentially barred from attending the IGF if they don't have
> > >another passport.
> > >
> > >I find this deeply problematic and in violation of the fundamental
> > >principles of the multi-stakeholder model, namely the fact that
> > >it's meant to be inclusive and open to all.
> > >
> > >Has anyone encountered this problem in the past, either in the IG
> > >sector or another development sector? Does anyone have ideas for
> > >how it can be resolved? I'm well aware this is not the first
> > >instance of a Taiwanese national being excluded from participation
> > >in a global event, so perhaps this is a moot point and no one can
> > >help. Still, it still strikes me as incredibly unjust and unfair
> > >that regional politics would prevent individuals from attending
> > >the IGF.
> > >
> > >Best,
> > >-Michael
> > >__________________
> > >
> > >Michael J. Oghia | Advocacy & Engagement Manager
> > >Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD <https://gfmd.info>)
> > >Belgrade, Serbia | Twitter <https://www.twitter.com/MikeOghia> |
> > >LinkedIn <https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeoghia>
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-- 
Regards.
--------------------------
Fouad Bajwa
Public Policy Analyst
Follow my Tweets: http://twitter.com/fouadbajwa
My Blog: Internet's Governance: http://internetsgovernance.blogspot.com/
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