Taiwan is pressing again for a seat in the UN system as the General Assembly opens, framing its exclusion as a risk to global security — a push Beijing will reject outright.

• Taiwan's representative to New Zealand argued that letting Taiwan into UN bodies is essential to keeping the peace in the Taiwan Strait, not just a matter of Taiwanese rights.
• China was accused of stepping up spying abroad, with New Zealand's own security service naming it as the only country running large-scale infiltration there, alongside continued Chinese military drills and missile launches near Taiwan.
• Nearly half the world's shipping passes through the Taiwan Strait, so any blockade or conflict would hit global trade and supply chains hard.
• Taipei says the 1971 UN resolution that gave China the seat never mentioned Taiwan and gives Beijing no right to speak for its people, and it wants in at the WHO, ICAO, Interpol and the UN climate body.
• Taiwan is also selling itself as an economic partner: the world's biggest maker of advanced chips, with investment in China sharply reduced and growth at a record high.

Outlook: The General Assembly session will bring the usual round of Taiwan-related lobbying and Chinese pushback, with no change to Taiwan's status likely.