Taiwan, US Reject China’s Claim At The United Nations – OpEd

The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said recently in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the United Nations as “Taiwan, Province of China,” the Taipei Times newspaper reported.

Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi said at a news conference of the third session at the 14th National People’s Congress said that Taiwan can only be referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China” at the UN.

Taiwan is an inseparable part of Chinese territory, which is not only history but a “fact,” he said.

“This year marks the 80th anniversary of the retrocession of Taiwan. The Chinese people’s victory in the war of resistance against Japan [in 1945] reclaimed Taiwan as part of China’s territory,” the Taipei Times reported quoting Wang as saying.

“Both the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Declaration published by major victorious powers stipulated that Taiwan, once stolen by Japan, should be returned to China, while Japan proclaimed unconditional surrender in agreement with the Potsdam Declaration,” he said.

These statements “validated China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and formed a fundamental part of the post-war international order,” Wang added.

People who support Taiwanese independence attempt to interfere in China’s internal affairs, divide the country and disrupt cross-strait stability, he said.

The UN General Assembly in 1971 passed Resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority, “resuming” all legal rights of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) at the UN and immediately expelling representatives of Taiwan from the UN system, Wang said.

The resolution solved the problem of China’s representation, including Taiwan, at the UN and completely ruled out the possibility of “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan,” he said.

The MAC said in a statement said that UN Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor claims that it is part of the PRC.

It did not authorize the PRC to represent Taiwan and the Taiwanese in the UN system, it said.

Taiwan is a country with sovereignty and has never belonged to the PRC, the MAC said, adding that only the popularly elected government of Taiwan can represent the 23.5 million Taiwanese in international realms such as the UN system.

Beijing deliberately distorts the resolution and improperly uses it to endorse the so-called “one China” principle, but neither the international community nor Taiwanese accept it, it said.

Beijing should refrain from degrading Taiwan diplomatically and handle the cross-strait relationship pragmatically and reasonably, the MAC said.

Taiwan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung  said that many countries, especially Western democracies, have already confirmed that UN Resolution 2758 only addresses China’s representation at the UN and does not mention Taiwan.

The U.S. Department of State has said that the resolution does not mention Taiwan or its right to engage in international relations or join international organizations, he said.

Such a viewpoint has been subscribed to by almost all democratic nations, including the U.S., Australia, the Netherlands and Canada, as well as the European Parliament, in resolutions or governmental statements, Lin said.

Beijing is keen to mischaracterize UN Resolution 2758 to support its claim that Taiwan is part of China, he said.

That would reframe the so-called “Taiwan issue” as China’s internal issue and the Taiwan Strait as its internal waters, giving Beijing a reason to annex Taiwan while barring interference by other nations, Lin said, adding that this is part of Beijing’s hybrid warfare to block international support for Taiwan. 

Meanwhile, according to the Focus Taiwan CNA newspaper, the U.S. has called out China and accused it of making “coercive efforts” to exclude Taiwan from the international community with the “misuse” of United Nations Resolution 2758. 

“Intentional misuse and mischaracterization of UNGA resolution 2758 is part of China’s broader coercive efforts to isolate Taiwan from the international community,” the Focus Taiwan CNA reported quoting a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State said on March 7. 

The resolution “puts no limits on any country’s sovereign choice to engage substantively with Taiwan,” and it “does not preclude Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the United Nations system and other multilateral fora,” the spokesperson said. 

The spokesperson was responding to Focus Taiwan CNA‘s request for comments on Chinese Foreign Minister Wang’s use of the UN resolution to assert Beijing’s territorial claims over Taiwan during a news conference in Beijing. 

The resolution has “addressed the issue of representation for all of China, including Taiwan, in the United Nations,” China’s top diplomat said following the “Two Sessions” meetings, the most important annual gathering for the China’s legislature and top government advisory body. 

Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has meanwhile lodged its protest, calling Wang’s claims “absurd” and “false,” while describing them as an attempt to “deceive and mislead the international community.” 

MOFA said the resolution did not mention Taiwan or authorize the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to represent Taiwan and its people in the UN and affiliated agencies. 

It also urged the global community to “reject China’s repeated misinterpretation of the resolution.” 

Resolution 2758 was adopted by the 26th UN General Assembly in 1971 to address the issue of China’s representation in the UN and resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) being replaced by the PRC. 

The resolution, however, did not mention Taiwan or even the ROC by name.