The move came after the committee held a long hour debate on the issue. It was the eighth consecutive year that the General Assembly turned down the request by a small group of countries, mostly in Africa and Latin America, foiling Taiwan's attempt to return to the United Nations.

Representatives from some 70 countries made statements during the debate. The majority, including the United States, Britain, France and Russia, four permanent members of the UN Security Council, made clear their opposition to the proposal and reiterated their countries' position of one China policy.

Diplomats from about 50 countries stressed that the issue of "Taiwan's participation in the United Nations" has already been solved by Resolution 2758 adopted at the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly, and there is no need to further debate about it.

The United Nations should concentrate on matters which demand urgent attention and put an end to the so-call Taiwan issue, they said.

On August 3, Senegal and a dozen of other small countries sent a letter to the UN General Secretary-General Kofi Annan, requesting to include in the agenda of the new session of the General Assembly an item of "Taiwan's participation in the United Nations."

China's Permanent Representative to the UN, Wang Yingfan, had immediately voiced strong opposition to the issue and asked the international community to continue to uphold justice.

Ambassador Wang spoke again at the Thursday night session against the proposal put forward on Taiwan's behalf, calling it an attempt to create "two Chinas" and "one China, one Taiwan" in the world inter-governmental organization.

"We strongly oppose the inclusion of item 183 of the draft agenda in the agenda of the 55th session of the General Assembly. We hope that the General Committee will continue to uphold justice, safeguard the purposes and principles of the UN Charter as well as General Assembly Resolution 2785 and support the position of the Chinese Delegation," Wang said.

He reiterated that the government of the People's Republic of China "rightfully represents all Chinese, including our compatriots in Taiwan, in the United Nations and all organizations related to it."

The decision by the General Committee was seen as a heavy blow to the new leadership in Taiwan, which was formed in March. It became clear that the new regime disregards past defeats and still wishes to regain access into the UN.

It was the second time since last September that the United States, Taiwan's main supporter and arms supplier, has been compelled to distance itself from the controversial issue. A US diplomat reaffirmed at the night session that his country would continue to pursue the one China policy. In the past eight years, no big powers have taken the side of Taiwan on the issue of returning to the UN.

(Xinhua)