[governance] Taiwanese nationals and the IGF

Sat Sep 7 14:35:26 EDT 2019

E-citizenship doesnt give you a passport to travel. The only solution is to
get rid of the concept of nation states and treat people as people and not
clans.

On Sat, Sep 7, 2019 at 2:23 PM Bill Woodcock <woody at pch.net> wrote:

> Estonian E-citizenships, perhaps?
>
> Doesn’t solve the problem, but it’s a work-around.
>
>
>                 -Bill
>
>
> On Sep 6, 2019, at 01:52, Michael J. Oghia (via governance Mailing List) <
> governance at lists.riseup.net> wrote:
>
> Hi Ian,
>
> Thanks so much for this thoughtful response, and indeed, I sent it in
> frustration. I realise, however, that this issue goes way beyond the IGF.
> Moreover, since a member of the Chinese government is a member of the MAG,
> I seriously doubt the MAG would even be open to discussing it.
>
> The point you raise about stateless individuals is an interesting one,
> though, as I don't know what the protocol is for that. Taiwan nationals
> clearly aren't stateless, though, so those are two separate points
> (regardless, I still recommend the IGF develop a procedure for including
> stateless individuals/groups).
>
> It seems this is an injustice that will have to pursue, and she can attend
> remotely if interested.
>
> Best,
> -Michael
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 6, 2019 at 10:46 AM 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>
>>
>> ---
> To unsubscribe: <mailto:igc-unsubscribe at lists.riseup.net
> <igc-unsubscribe at lists.riseup.net>>
> List help: <https://riseup.net/lists>
>
> ---
> To unsubscribe: <mailto:igc-unsubscribe at lists.riseup.net>
> List help: <https://riseup.net/lists>
>
-- 
Farzaneh
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igcaucus.org/pipermail/governance/attachments/20190907/a82b31b1/attachment.htm>