Taiwan will appeal to the international community to stop China from misrepresenting UN Resolution 2758 when the UN General Assembly meets later this month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
The ministry made the remarks at a news conference in Taipei on its objectives to promote Taiwan’s inclusion in the world body.
The 79th UN General Assembly is to open on Tuesday next week at its headquarters in New York. The assembly is to hold its general debate from Sept. 24 to 28, focusing on the theme: “Leaving no one behind: Acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said.
Photo: CNA
Ironically, Taiwan’s 23.5 million people have continuously been left behind by the UN, Tien said.
“The reason for this injustice is because China has maliciously twisted the content of UN Resolution 2758, with the intention of misleading the international community to equate the resolution with its so-called ‘one China’ principle,” he said.
“China falsely claims that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and has authorized the PRC to represent it,” he added. “Such a claim negates the fact that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is a sovereign nation and has legitimate rights to be part of the UN.”
Asked why Taiwan is focused on explaining Resolution 2758 this year, Tien said that Nauru cited the resolution when it broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan earlier this year.
The island country said its decision was made “on the grounds of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 and the ‘one China’ principle.”
Tien said that if Taiwan does not clarify UN member states’ understanding of the resolution soon, “the cross-strait ‘status quo’ that neither Taiwan nor the PRC is subordinate to the other would be overturned by the PRC.”
Beijing will likely continue to distort the resolution before ultimately using it as a legal pretense to use force against Taiwan by labeling the cross-strait issue as a domestic dispute, he added.
The ministry plans to highlight three points in its appeal to the UN.
First, the UN should recognize and take action against the malicious distortion of Resolution 2758, which threatens to change the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait, and disrupt peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, it said.
Second, Resolution 2758 does not deny Taiwan the right to meaningfully participate in UN events. The UN should seek to accept Taiwan’s participation using appropriate ways so that Taiwan can contribute to the UN reaching its sustainable development goals, it said.
Third, the UN Secretariat should remain neutral. It must stop falsely citing Resolution 2758 or using it to prevent Taiwanese nationals and news media from visiting UN buildings or attending or covering UN conferences and events. The government’s steady and moderate approach over the past eight years to promote Taiwan’s re-entry to the UN has been widely recognized by the international community and has enabled more countries with similar ideas to join the ranks of supporting Taiwan in its pursuit of international participation, the ministry said.
Aside from inviting permanent representatives to the UN from ally countries to jointly send a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the ministry said it would continue to ask them to speak out for Taiwan at the general debate and other General Assembly events this year.
The US government in April publicly issued a four-point statement refuting the misuse of Resolution 2758, the ministry said.
Delegates to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China Policy summit in July launched the 2758 Initiative, pledging to pass resolutions in their own parliaments to reject Beijing’s distortion of Resolution 2758 and international law regarding Taiwan’s status.
The Australian Senate last month took the lead by unanimously passing an “urgency motion” against China’s misrepresentation and misinterpretation of Resolution 2758 to undermine Taiwan’s status.
Additional reporting by CNA
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