The “status quo” of democratic Taiwan and autocratic China not belonging to each other has long been recognized by the international community, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday in its rebuttal of Beijing’s claim that Taiwan can only be represented in the UN as “Taiwan, Province of China.”
Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) yesterday 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.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“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,” Wang said.
“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 yesterday 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 independent 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.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday 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 US 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 US, 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.
Additional reporting by CNA
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS