The leaders of Palau and Eswatini spoke out against China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 at the UN General Assembly on Thursday, saying the resolution does not preclude Taiwan’s participation in the global body.
The remarks come the day after the leaders of Paraguay, the Marshall Islands and the Czech Republic mentioned Taiwan in their addresses at the assembly, which began on Tuesday and runs through Monday in New York.
Taiwan’s inclusion is an “urgent issue,” with the voices of 23 million people left unheard, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr said.
Photo: Reuters
Taiwan remains unable to fully participate in the UN system or contribute to the world, he said.
UN Resolution 2758, passed in 1971, recognized the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the only legitimate representative of China at the UN, a move that enabled the PRC to replace Taiwan as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. It did not address the question of Taiwan’s sovereignty or representation at the UN.
China has willfully misinterpreted the resolution for many years now, using it to claim Taiwan as part of the PRC’s territory, Whipps said.
Photo: AP
“Palau believes that inclusivity strengthens the United Nations, and that no community should be barred from contributing to the solutions our world so desperately needs,” he said.
Palau and Taiwan have had official diplomatic relations since 1999, with exchanges dating back to 1980.
King Mswati III of Eswatini also referenced UN Resolution 2758, saying that it “did not address the issue of Taiwan’s representation in the United Nations, and it does not preclude their participation in the UN system.”
Eswatini and the Marshall Islands also called for Taiwan’s inclusion to help realize the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Taiwan is an “important partner to the Marshall Islands and the world in the SDGs,” Marshallese President Hilda Heine said, while King Mswati III said that the UN should “seek suitable ways of including Taiwan in efforts to realize the SDGs.”
On Wednesday, Paraguayan President Santiago Pena said that Taiwan’s exclusion from the UN system “is an affront that weakens the legitimacy of our institutions.”
Paraguay has proudly maintained relations with Taiwan for 67 years, showing that “cooperation between nations can be based on more than mere interest,” he said.
“It is time to uproot this tree of injustice that has been growing for decades, and give China and Taiwan a place in the UN,” he added.
Meanwhile, US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau met with Chinese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu (馬朝旭) on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Thursday, during which they discussed Taiwan.
Among the “range of regional and global matters” discussed were threats to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, US Department of State principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a news release.
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