Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) on Saturday, May 16, thanked a bipartisan group of 26 U.S. Representatives for their concern over Taiwan’s treatment at the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in March. That came after the group sent a letter to WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on Thursday, May 14.

The letter stated that Taiwan’s WTO status as a separate customs territory has been respected since it joined the body in 2002 and that it has enjoyed the right to full and equal participation in WTO Ministerial Conferences. However, when Cameroon hosted the 14th conference in March, it gave out visas listing Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China,” which implied it is not an independent WTO member. This resulted in Taiwan’s absence from the meeting.

The Foreign Ministry noted that the 26 U.S. House members asked in their letter about measures to ensure this does not set a precedent for future Ministerial Conferences and guidelines to prevent similar incidents from happening again.