TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Sky lanterns from Taiwan appeared at New York City’s Time Square as the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on Tuesday (Sept. 14).

Echoing the theme of the UNGA this year, “building resilience through hope,” the ad displayed on a digital billboard featured Taiwan’s traditional practice of releasing floating lanterns to carry hopes into the sky.

“The World Soars When We All Listen,” the ads read, urging the international community to lend support to Taiwan, “whose progress and experience deserve to be heard in the U.N.,” the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York said in a Facebook post.

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, passed on Oct. 25 in 1971, recognized the government in Beijing as the only legitimate representative of China, and Taiwan was subsequently removed from the U.N. Ever since then, Taiwan has campaigned for participation in U.N.-associated organizations and events — but to no avail due to China’s efforts to block it.

(CNA photo)

The sky lanterns conveyed the hope the COVID-19 pandemic will end soon while also calling for an end to the discrimination against Taiwan in its bid to join U.N. institutions with dignity, CNA quoted TECO Director-General James Lee (李光章) as saying.

While the ads only appeared in Times Square for one day, a van sporting Taiwanese sky lanterns will continue to spread the message there and around U.N. Headquarters. People are invited to visit the event’s website GiveTaiwanAVoice.com to show their support for Taiwan.