The EU’s executive branch on Tuesday said that "China's military activities around Taiwan increase cross-strait tensions" and echoed Washington and Taipei's stance that the 1971 UN resolution Beijing uses to claim sovereignty over Taiwan requires clarification.
European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit delivered a speech titled "On the misinterpretation of the UN Resolution 2758 and its continuous military provocations around Taiwan" at a European Parliament session.
In the speech, the EU official reiterated the regional bloc's long-held "one China" policy, which recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the sole legal government of China.
Photo: EPA
Despite this policy, the official — speaking on behalf of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/European Commission Vice President Josep Borrell — said the EU and Taiwan are "like-minded" and the European Commission opposes "any unilateral actions that change the status quo by force or coercion."
The European commissioner also reiterated the EU's stance that maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are of "strategic importance for regional and global security and prosperity."
"It is for this reason that we follow very closely all developments around the Taiwan Strait. China's military activities around Taiwan increase cross-strait tensions," he said, referring to China's routine warship and aircraft operations around Taiwan as well as its large-scale military exercises that encircle the island, most recently on Monday last week.
Schmit reiterated the EU's stance that urges both sides of the Taiwan Strait to "exercise restraint and avoid any actions that may further escalate cross-strait tensions, which should be resolved through dialogue."
Meanwhile, for the first time, the European Commission official mentioned China's interpretation of UN Resolution 2758.
"United Nations Resolution 2758 is very short — only 150 words," Schmit said. "And among those 150 words, the word 'Taiwan' does not appear."
"The resolution switched representation in the United Nations from the 'representatives of Chiang Kai-shek' to the 'representatives of the Government of the People's Republic of China,'" he said, referring to the then-president of the Republic of China whose nationalist government relocated to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists.
"I welcome the European Parliament's focus on this issue and this important debate. We should take all opportunities to promote a more positive dynamic in cross-Strait relations, which contributes to peace, not only in the region, but also globally," Schmit said.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Schmit's address is significant because it is the first time the European Commission, the executive branch of the EU, has "expressed its view" on the issue.
The European Parliament has already passed several resolutions criticizing China's "misinterpretation" of UN Resolution 2758.
In a statement, MOFA called on more countries around the world to join the EU and the US in addressing Beijing's "misinterpretation of the resolution" to uphold peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Adopted by the 26th UN General Assembly in 1971, Resolution 2758 resulted in Taiwan losing its seat at the UN to the PRC.
Taiwan has since been prevented from joining the UN and participating in affiliated organizations.
However, in recent years, Taiwan and the US have called on the international community to face the issue of the PRC's "distortion" of Resolution 2758 as an excuse to claim sovereignty over Taiwan, which has never been ruled by the PRC.
During the recently concluded 79th session of the UN General Assembly, Taiwan said it intends to help the international community better understand Resolution 2758 this year so that Beijing can no longer "misuse" it to exclude Taiwan from the UN system.
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