China has falsely linked UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 with its “one China principle” and used the resolution to legitimize its acts to limit Taiwan’s participation in world bodies and possibly invade Taiwan by force, President William Lai (賴清德) said at the annual meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) in Taipei yesterday.
UN Resolution 2758 was passed by the UN General Assembly on Oct. 25, 1971, stating that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the legitimate government of China, which led to the PRC replacing the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan’s official name, in the UN.
Beijing’s “one China principle” asserts that there is only one China, which is the PRC and not the ROC, and that it has jurisdiction over Taiwan.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Lai also thanked the US government and the European Parliament for repudiating China’s attempts to link the resolution and its “one China principle.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan was formally welcomed yesterday as an official IPAC member at the group’s annual meeting.
“Taiwan will do its best to put out a democratic protection umbrella with our democratic partners to keep them away from the threat of authoritarianism,” Lai said.
Photo courtesy of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China
The president said Taiwan hopes to realize this goal by adhering to the “four pillars.”
Lai in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal in July last year defined the pillars as building up the nation’s defense capabilities, promoting economic security and fostering supply chain resilience, forming partnerships with other democracies, and maintaining steady and principled cross-strait leadership.
Taiwan is resolute in its determination to maintain regional peace and stability, and deeply believes that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are linked with the development of global democracy, he said.
Lai cited recent Chinese aggression in the East and South China seas, and its joint military exercises with Russia as evidence of threats posed by autocratic expansion, while also citing this year’s NATO summit declaration that “China has become a decisive enabler of Russia’s war against Ukraine.”
During the meeting, all IPAC members agreed that China has distorted UN Resolution 2758 in their home nations and also agreed to enact efforts to support Taiwan’s participation in UN bodies.
The IPAC session stated that the 1971 resolution only confirmed that the PRC was China’s legal representative to the UN. It did not mention Taiwan or its political status, support China’s claims toward Taiwan or explicitly comment on Taiwan’s capability to join the UN and related bodies.
It is regrettable that China has distorted the meaning of Resolution 2758 to imply that it supports China’s “one China principle,” and equally regrettable to see China altering historical documents, changing references to “Taiwan” to “Taiwan, China.”
Separately, at a Ministry of Foreign Affairs banquet on Monday, IPAC chair Olivier Cadic said China’s recent guidelines targeting Taiwan might be in violation of UN human rights principles.
Cadic also called on China to stop its irresponsible and aggressive military actions, and to respect the rights of free passage to all ships sailing through the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) thanked IPAC for raising international awareness about Chinese efforts to undermine the international order, as well as those of members of the G7 and the G20.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
RSS