In 1992, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan proposed that the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration of Taiwan (Republic of China) should acknowledge the many consequences of Taiwan’s political isolation from the international community. Taiwan’s lack of recognition by the United Nations has been a political reality that sidelines its national and cultural status in the global community. Since this time, various groups have been active in trying to rectify this continued marginalization by lobbying for Taiwan’s inclusion as an independent member nation of the United Nations.

Given that New York is where the United Nations headquarters is located, it motivated the Taiwanese Americans living in the Greater New York area to organize the “Committee for Admission of Taiwan to the United Nations” and start an annual rally, along with a number of activities, during the United Nations assembly session in September.  For the first several years, we promoted the theme of “UN membership for Taiwan”, emphasizing the legality of Taiwan as a sovereign state in the international community.

The theme of the movement has evolved to a broader name of “Keep Taiwan Free” in recent years, to reflect the anxiety most Taiwanese feel about Taiwan’s sovereignty when confronted with China’s increasing aggression.