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Taipei yesterday expressed regret over the UN refusal to include the island's bid for membership on the General Assembly agenda - the 12th time in a row Taiwan has failed to gain a seat on the  body.

The island's loss was compounded by the margin, as  the number of countries speaking against its bid increased by 11 this time.

Even three of the island's allies - Panama, Haiti and the Dominican Republic - failed to voice support for the bid after speaking in favour last year.

However,  Foreign Minister Mark Chen Tan-sun said Taipei would continue to seek global support for Taiwan's bid to return to the UN, which  dropped the island to accept the mainland in 1971.

Fifteen nations allied with Taiwan submitted the membership proposal to a meeting of the UN Steering Committee on Wednesday. But 93 countries spoke against the motion, while 21 spoke in favour. Although Taiwanese officials had expected the outcome, given the consistent pressure from the mainland, they thought more countries would  favour  the bid.

Wednesday's rejection came just hours after Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian  held a video conference with UN reporters, hoping to win their support for the island's bid and raise its international profile.

In his hour-long conference, held outside the UN's New York headquarters at the insistence of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Mr Chen said he would be willing to debate the issue of Taiwan's UN membership with President Hu Jintao .

In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry yesterday condemned Taiwan's UN bid as a political ploy aimed at creating  an independent Taiwan.

'The Taiwanese authorities should stop such political tricks and return to the one-China principle,' said  spokesman Kong Quan. China's ambassador to the UN, Wang Guangya , said in New York that the General Assembly debate was interference in China's internal affairs.

However, Andrew Hsia Li-yen, Taiwan's representative in New York, said that even though the membership bid failed, some progress had been made as the motion attracted greater public attention in New York.



Even fewer nations vote for Taiwan in 12th bid to join UN