Taiwan’s accession to the United Nations has once again aroused controversy

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Article/Blessing CALD Editorial；Photo/Internet

Fifty years ago, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) replaced the Republic of China (ROC) as China’s representative in the United Nations (UN) in accordance with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758. More than half a century after it was issued, this resolution, which involves the status of China and Taiwan in the United Nations, has once again become the focus of world public opinion.

What is this resolution? Let’s read its text first.

UN Resolution 2758 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Recalling the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

Considering the restoration of the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China is essential both for the protection of the Charter of the United Nations and for the cause that the United Nations must serve under the Charter.

Recognizing that the representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China are the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations and that the People’s Republic of China is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

Decides to restore all its rights to the People’s Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it.

Recalling the principles of the Charter of the United Nations
Considering that the restoration of the legitimate rights of the People’s Republic of China is indispensable for the preservation of the Charter of the United Nations and for the causes which the United Nations organizations are called upon to pursue in accordance with that Charter

Recognizing that the representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China are the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations Organization and that the People’s Republic of China is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council

DECIDES: To restore all the rights of the People’s Republic of China, to recognize the representatives of her Government as the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations Organization and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the seat which they unlawfully occupy in the United Nations Organization and in all the agencies of the Organization to which they belong.

October 25, 1971

Whose seat is it?
The Republic of China (ROC) was one of the five permanent members of the Security Council when the Charter of the United Nations was adopted by representatives of 46 nations meeting in San Francisco, U.S.A., in 1945, and on October 1, 1949, the Communist Party of China (CPC), which had won the Communist Civil War, established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to fight against the Republic of China (ROC) which had retreated to Taiwan. After a period of time, the military forces of the People’s Republic of China were unable to land on Taiwan and gain control of the island. Under the rule of Chiang Kai-shek of the R.O.C., Taiwan could no longer maintain its control over the mainland, although it claimed to be “counterattacking the mainland”. As a result, the “two Chinas” were formed and the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) then tried in various ways to obtain the “China” seat in the United Nations held by the ROC government.

As the Sino-Soviet relationship broke down and a serious armed conflict broke out on the border, the “Jumbo Island Incident” provided a basis for negotiation between China and the U.S. In 1971, U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, Kissinger, made a secret visit to China; meanwhile, U.S. envoy, Robert Murphy, traveled to Taiwan to discuss with Chiang Kai-shek about the “dual representation” at the United Nations, and Chiang secretly said that he would be able to work with the People’s Republic of China (R.O.C.) on the condition that it retained a seat at the R.O.C.’s Security Council. Chiang secretly indicated that under the condition of retaining the seat of the ROC in the Security Council, the ROC could exist in the United Nations together with the People’s Republic of China. On July 15 of the same year, Albania, Algeria and other countries submitted a draft resolution to the United Nations, the “Two Arabian Proposals”, which was later called Resolution 2758 and passed.

The U.S. attempted to allow the ROC to retain its seat in the United Nations on the basis of the “two-Arab proposal” by formally submitting a proposal on “dual representation” to the United Nations Secretary General, which was severely opposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. The U.S. government also refused to commit itself to Taiwan’s demand that “the U.S. government will honor its commitment to guarantee the seat of the ROC since the Kennedy and Johnson administrations”. After the R.O.C. delegation had exhausted all means of blocking the resolution on the “two Arab states” proposal, Zhou Shucai (Minister of Foreign Affairs) of the R.O.C. delegation declared, “Because of the irrational sentiments and programs prevailing at the United Nations, the delegation of the R.O.C. will no longer take part in any United Nations meetings from now on. The beliefs of the founding of the United Nations have been betrayed”, and led all members of the delegation out of the meeting.

On October 25, the General Assembly of the United Nations passed draft resolution A/L.630 and its addenda 1 and 2 on “Restoration of the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations”, which was jointly proposed by Albania, Algeria and 23 other countries, with 76 votes in favor, 35 votes against and 17 abstentions. According to the Charter of the United Nations and the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly of the United Nations, this proposal became an official resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations immediately after its adoption. Since then, the People’s Republic of China became the sole legal representative of the United Nations, while the Republic of China government under the leadership of the Kuomintang lost its right of representation.

It can be said that when the United Nations was founded, the People’s Republic of China did not exist, and the United Nations was founded by the Republic of China, which governed the mainland at that time. However, when the United Nations was founded on October 24, 1945, the ROC did not rule Taiwan Island, but on the next day, October 25, the Japanese soldiers on Taiwan Island surrendered to the ROC. In other words, the ROC formally took over the administration of Taiwan Island from Japan after the Second World War. Until today, the ROC is still governing Taiwan Island. In other words, the People’s Republic of China has never exercised its right to govern Taiwan Island. Obviously, UN Resolution 2578 discusses the rights and interests of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations, rather than making a judgment on the sovereignty of Taiwan Island. It is not the content of this resolution to draw a conclusion about the sovereignty of Taiwan, and this is precisely why this resolution has once again become the center of attention in the world today.

Taiwan’s Accession to the United Nations Surpasses Previous Years
Since the passage of United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, Taiwan’s international status and its seat in the United Nations has been a hot topic from time to time over the past half-century, especially this year. Civil society organizations and New York’s overseas Chinese community held a march for Taiwan’s accession to the United Nations in downtown New York City, which attracted many young Taiwanese and international students to join, with more than 500 people taking part, making the march more powerful than in previous years. This year’s highlight was the High Level Delegates’ General Debate held on the 24th, the theme of which was “Leaving No One Behind: Working Together to Promote Peace, Sustainable Development and Human Dignity for Current and Future Generations”.

Although the Chinese government has repeatedly stated that UN Resolution 2758 cannot be misinterpreted or challenged, there has been a significant shift in the international community’s support for Taiwan’s membership in the United Nations. The U.S. government, Europe, and Japan all support Taiwan’s participation in the relevant United Nations organizations, and last month the Australian Senate even passed a motion emphasizing that Resolution 2758 does not recognize the People’s Republic of China’s sovereignty over Taiwan, and that even though China does not like this development, the 23 million people of Taiwan enjoy the same basic human rights that are enjoyed by all the people of the world. Immediately afterwards, the House of Representatives of the Dutch Parliament also passed a motion with an “overwhelming vote” stating that UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 does not determine China’s sovereignty over Taiwan, nor does it exclude Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations or other international organizations, and that it considers that China has distorted the resolution and blocked Taiwan’s international participation. The motion reiterates that Taiwan’s participation in international organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) is in the interests of the Netherlands.

It is also important to note that, in addition to the Netherlands, other European countries such as the Czech Republic and Lithuania have already shown their support for Taiwan, and these countries may follow the Netherlands in pushing for more similar pro-Taiwan motions in the future. As the U.S. becomes more and more assertive on the Taiwan issue, European countries may show more support for Taiwan out of diplomatic consistency with the United States. However, not all countries will follow this trend, as many are still dependent on China’s market and economic cooperation and do not want to offend China on the Taiwan issue. Therefore, although the Congressional Taiwan Friendship Motion has had a positive impact on some countries, it is still challenging to create a large-scale supportive action for Taiwan on a global scale.

In addition, after the motion was passed in the Dutch parliament, some Taiwanese people said that the relevant messages were suspected to be restricted by Facebook. Eugene Du, founder of Taiwan AI Labs, a nonprofit organization that uses technology tools to study information warfare, told BBC Chinese that he used an online issue voice measurement tool and found that news of the Dutch parliament’s discussion of Resolution 2758 was widely reported in the Taiwanese media but rarely seen on Facebook, and that he could not be sure of the reason for this, but believed the ratio to be grossly disproportionate. independently verify the veracity of this claim and has made enquiries with the public relations department of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and had not received a response by press time.

Can’t be shut out again
A few days ago, the Permanent Representatives of Taiwan’s nine diplomatic states to the United Nations sent a joint letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres calling on the UN to accept Taiwan, refuting China’s misinterpretation and misapplication of UN Resolution 2758 over the years, and stating outright that the matter “jeopardizes the status quo in the Taiwan Strait as well as the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region”. The nine countries that signed the letter are Belize, Swaziland, Guatemala, Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Last week, Taiwan, the United States, Japan, Australia and Canada co-organized the International Symposium on “Global Cooperation and Training Framework – Promoting Sustainable Development through Global Partnerships and Youth Participation in the Use of Science and Technology” in New York. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the symposium was attended by government officials and experts from more than 10 countries, effectively demonstrating that Taiwan is an indispensable partner in realizing the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Ironically, while the theme of this year’s UN General Assembly emphasizes “leaving no one behind,” the UN has allowed China to distort UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to exclude Taiwan’s 23.5 million people, which is really unfair and unjust. It is also ridiculous that Taiwan, which produces more than 90% of the world’s advanced chips, was excluded from the “Future Summit” organized by the UN this year to discuss how the world can cooperate in the use of science and technology to enhance the well-being of future generations.

In the dispute over China’s representation in the United Nations General Assembly half a century ago, the focus of the controversy was only on who is the legitimate central government of China, and never on whether or not Taiwan is a part of China. When Albania brought up the case, they did not mention Taiwan only because they thought that “Taiwan is part of China” is beyond doubt, so of course they did not need to mention it. However, this resolution does not mean that Taiwan was excluded from the UNGA. If we seriously study the UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 adopted in 1971, we cannot ignore its temporal and spatial background. The resolution only decided the issue of China’s representation in the United Nations, but did not authorize the People’s Republic of China to represent the people of Taiwan in the United Nations system.

For more than half a century, all aspects of Taiwanese society have been promoting Taiwan’s participation in other international organizations such as the World Health Organization and the United Nations. In recent years, the international situation has become more chaotic, and China’s strong rise has added intangible political pressure on the United Nations. However, as the confrontation between democracy and authoritarianism becomes more and more intense, and as the international community’s support for Taiwan grows, Taiwan’s will to promote meaningful participation in the United Nations has become stronger.

However, politics is based on reality, not theory. The estrangement of Taiwan from the rest of the world brought about by UN Resolution 2578 for more than 50 years will be changed by the change of geopolitical reality, and it is expected that there will be further changes in the future.