Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space.
After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break.
Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s ability to participate in international organizations.
Resolution 2758 was intended to determine that “the People’s Republic of China, rather than the Chiang Kai-shek [蔣介石] regime, represents ‘China’ in the United Nations.”
However, the text of the resolution does not address “whether Taiwan is part of China” or “who governs the Taiwanese people.”
Nevertheless, China has weaponized Resolution 2758 through both legal and cognitive warfare to suppress Taiwan.
Legally, China continuously misleads the international community by asserting that Resolution 2758 determined Taiwan’s sovereignty — which it did not. This lends legitimacy to the Chinese Communist Party’s diplomatic pressures on Taiwan.
Cognitively, China conflates its “one China principle” with Resolution 2758, creating a false impression that the Taiwan issue has been resolved, diverting attention away from the fact that the resolution does not address Taiwan’s status.
The US recognizes China’s weaponization of Resolution 2758. As a result, Washington has been mobilizing the international community to reassess and reinterpret Resolution 2758, aiming to decouple Taiwan’s sovereign status from the resolution.
On the 50th anniversary of Resolution 2758 in 2021, then-US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs Rick Waters publicly accused China of misusing the resolution to prevent Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international affairs.
Last year, the US House of Representatives passed the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which says that Resolution 2758 does not pertain to Taiwan.
In March last year, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink and US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner told a congressional hearing that China had been using economic incentives and misinterpretations of Resolution 2758 to usurp Taiwan’s diplomatic allies.
Under the agenda set by the US, Taiwan should proactively devise strategies and ensure high-quality support from like-minded and allied countries during the World Health Assembly (WHA) to counteract China’s misleading narratives to the international community.
For example, during the 2022 WHA, the US supported Eswatini’s speech that rejected China’s long-standing misuse and hijacking of Resolution 2758, which said:
First, Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1 only address the representation of China and do not authorize China to represent Taiwan, nor do they acknowledge Taiwan as part of China.
Second, the 2005 memorandum of understanding between China and the WHO grants Beijing an unreasonable veto power, allowing it to unilaterally decide Taiwan’s participation in the WHA or other WHO affairs.
Third, Taiwan’s participation in the WHA does not imply the WHO’s position on Taiwan’s sovereignty. Therefore, the WHO must invite Taiwan to the WHA to fulfill its vision of “health for all.”
Such arguments should be consistently and firmly promoted internationally to counteract China and its allies’ manipulation and misinterpretation of Resolution 2758.
Taiwan’s exclusion from the WHO signifies a failure by the international community to uphold its commitment to humanitarian principles and the promotion of health rights for all people, rather than a lack of capability of Taiwan to participate in global health affairs.
Taiwan should loudly voice its demands, leveraging the international support for Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the short term, Taiwan should continue to mobilize supportive countries to clarify that Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty, and advocate for inclusion in critical WHO frameworks like the WHO pandemic agreement.
In the medium term, Taiwan should aim for the passage of resolutions at the WHA mandating the regular invitation of Taiwan to assemblies.
In the long term, Taiwan should work toward becoming a formal WHO member under its own name, thereby permanently resolving the issue of its participation.
Lin Shih-chia is executive director of the Foundation of Medical Professionals Alliance in Taiwan.
The US Senate’s passage of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which urges Taiwan’s inclusion in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise and allocates US$1 billion in military aid, marks yet another milestone in Washington’s growing support for Taipei. On paper, it reflects the steadiness of US commitment, but beneath this show of solidarity lies contradiction. While the US Congress builds a stable, bipartisan architecture of deterrence, US President Donald Trump repeatedly undercuts it through erratic decisions and transactional diplomacy. This dissonance not only weakens the US’ credibility abroad — it also fractures public trust within Taiwan. For decades,
In 1976, the Gang of Four was ousted. The Gang of Four was a leftist political group comprising Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members: Jiang Qing (江青), its leading figure and Mao Zedong’s (毛澤東) last wife; Zhang Chunqiao (張春橋); Yao Wenyuan (姚文元); and Wang Hongwen (王洪文). The four wielded supreme power during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), but when Mao died, they were overthrown and charged with crimes against China in what was in essence a political coup of the right against the left. The same type of thing might be happening again as the CCP has expelled nine top generals. Rather than a
The ceasefire in the Middle East is a rare cause for celebration in that war-torn region. Hamas has released all of the living hostages it captured on Oct. 7, 2023, regular combat operations have ceased, and Israel has drawn closer to its Arab neighbors. Israel, with crucial support from the United States, has achieved all of this despite concerted efforts from the forces of darkness to prevent it. Hamas, of course, is a longtime client of Iran, which in turn is a client of China. Two years ago, when Hamas invaded Israel — killing 1,200, kidnapping 251, and brutalizing countless others
A Reuters report published this week highlighted the struggles of migrant mothers in Taiwan through the story of Marian Duhapa, a Filipina forced to leave her infant behind to work in Taiwan and support her family. After becoming pregnant in Taiwan last year, Duhapa lost her job and lived in a shelter before giving birth and taking her daughter back to the Philippines. She then returned to Taiwan for a second time on her own to find work. Duhapa’s sacrifice is one of countless examples among the hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who sustain many of Taiwan’s households and factories,
RSS