The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) efforts to manipulate Retrocession Day to deny Taiwanese sovereignty and to limit its space on the international stage will not be effective and not be recognized by democratic countries, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday.
The remarks, made in a Facebook post, came as a response to Beijing’s designation of Oct. 25 as “Commemoration Day of Taiwan’s Restoration.”
China’s Xinhua news agency on Friday reported that China’s Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress — China’s top legislative body — had adopted a decision to designate Oct. 25 as the “Commemoration Day of Taiwan’s Restoration.”
Photo: Taipei Times
The decision, made in accordance with the People’s Republic of China’s constitution, stipulates that the state “hold commemorative activities in various forms” on Oct. 25, Xinhua reported.
Oct. 25 also marked the passage of UN General Assembly Resolution No. 2758 in 1971 that addressed the issue of China’s representation at the international body, the DPP said.
It resulted in Taiwan, officially named the Republic of China (ROC), losing its seat at the UN to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Taipei has since been excluded from participating in the international organization and its affiliates.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
The resolution does not mention “Taiwan” and does not say that “Taiwan belongs to China [PRC],” but the CCP over the decades has been distorting the truth and promoting the resolution as “proof” of UN recognition of the “one China” principle, the DPP said.
China’s distortion of the resolution has been the basis of its efforts to prevent Taiwan’s participation in international organizations to isolate the nation and undercut its sovereignty, it said.
That is why Taiwan is barred from joining the WHO and its citizens are denied entry into UN buildings, the DPP said.
Taiwan must make clear that China’s claims are not valid, the DPP said, adding that international support for Taipei has been rising.
The DPP cited this year’s Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) resolution saying that the UN resolution only recognized the PRC as China’s legal representative and did not mention Taiwan.
The legislative bodies of the US, Australia, the Netherlands, the UK, Canada, the Czech Republic, Belgium and the EU have also passed resolutions similar to the IPAC’s, the DPP said.
Taiwan is a part of the international community, it said, adding that the nation’s democracy, freedom and sovereignty should not be oppressed.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said that the retrocession of Taiwan was due to the ROC’s efforts in World War II and that Taiwan is an indisputable part of the ROC.
The commemoration should not be overshadowed by political commentary or distortion of history driven by political ideology, he said.
Additional reporting by Luo Kuo-chia
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