Cross-party negotiations to draft a statement on UN Resolution 2758 broke down after heated disagreements about whether to align with other parliamentary statements on the matter or to return to the UN as the Republic of China (ROC).
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) caucus held discussions between the three major political parties on the statement, during which all parties put forward their respective proposals.
In July, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China passed a motion clarifying that the resolution does not limit Taiwan’s participation in the UN, and that China has distorted its meaning to align with its own “one China” principle.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The Dutch House of Representatives, the Australian Senate and the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs have also passed similar statements.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suggested that the statement should emphasize how the resolution does not mention Taiwan, and that China has distorted it to block the nation from participating in international affairs.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) preferred to break with the resolution, and for Taiwan to rejoin the UN under the name the ROC.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
As no consensus was reached, it would be up to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) to hold future negotiations.
TPP Legislator Chen Gau-tzu (陳昭姿), who chaired the meeting, said the TPP hoped that the Legislative Yuan could come to an agreement.
Chen added that the TPP’s proposed statement referred to the country as “ROC Taiwan.”
DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) said that the DPP and TPP proposals were similar, with the key difference being that the DPP sought to condemn China to align with statements from legislatures in other countries.
KMT Legislator Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強), who arrived late, referred to President William Lai’s (賴清德) remarks over the weekend that China cannot be Taiwan’s “motherland” and said that both parties were united in their feelings, and that the DPP has no reason to oppose the KMT’s proposal to rejoin international organizations as the ROC.
DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) agreed with Shen that the TPP and DPP proposals were close in terms of historical accuracy and reflected mainstream public opinion, although the former is more domestic-focused and the latter focused internationally.
However, the KMT proposal seeks to negate UN Resolution 2758 entirely and is at odds with the international community, she added.
After further remarks from Lo, the DPP legislators left the meeting.
Wu accused Lo and the KMT of seeking to sow chaos within the Legislative Yuan, adding that such statements could send the wrong signal to the international community.
She said the KMT refused to engage in good-faith negotiations, adding that the DPP would await future talks led by Han.
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