Had host country Azerbaijan granted him a visa, renowned professor of acupuncture Lin Jaung-geng would have become the first Taiwanese to attend an intergovernmental conference organized by UNESCO since Taiwan lost its UN seat in 1971.

But the reason Azerbaijan denied his visa request remains unclear, Taipei Times reports.

According to sources, Lin wished to attend the Eighth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, from Dec. 2 to Dec. 8, as a representative of Taiwan, Taipei. But the Azerbaijani government said that he be present at the meeting in an individual capacity.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Azerbaijan had refused to give Lin an official letter of invitation needed to apply for a visa to the country, but without the reasons being disclosed.

After the request by the ministry via its overseas mission in Russia to the Azerbaijani embassy in Moscow was rejected, the ministry turned to UNESCO headquarters in Paris for help, but to no avail, a ministry official said.

UNESCO gave no explanation to the ministry for its failure to secure a letter of invitation for Lin from Azerbaijan, the official also said.