U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday called on all United Nations member states to support Taiwan's "robust, meaningful participation throughout the U.N. system."
In a statement, Blinken said Taiwan’s exclusion from U.N. forums "undermines the important work of the U.N. and its related bodies, all of which stand to benefit greatly from its contributions."
Taiwan held the Chinese U.N. seat until Oct. 25, 1971, when it was voted out as representative of the country in favor of the People's Republic of China, which had won a civil war in 1949 and forced the republican government to flee to the island. China says Taiwan is one of its provinces and so it has the sole right to represent Taiwan internationally.
(Reporting by Tim Ahmann and David Brunnstrom)
