In 1971, the 26th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted Resolution
2758, which recognized the representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China
(PRC) as “the only lawful representatives of China to the United Nations”.
The Resolution has not only solved the question of the representation of China in the UN, but
acknowledged that Taiwan is part of China, reaffirming the one-China principle in international
law.
However, some think tank in the U.S. recently fabricated a report with fund from Taiwan’s
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority to deliberately misrepresent Resolution 2758 of the
UNGA.
By brazenly claiming that the Resolution didn’t deal with the representation of Taiwan in the UN
and that “Taiwan’s status is not yet determined”, the report attempts to knock together a so-called
legal basis to justify the DPP authority’s pursuit of “Taiwan independence”.
It must be noted that relevant arguments in the report don’t have any legal ground and cannot hold
water at all.
Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China since ancient times, which is a basic fact. A series of
documents of international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation,
have confirmed the historical fact that Taiwan belongs to China.
In 1943, heads of China, Britain and the U.S. jointly issued the Cairo Declaration, which stated in
explicit terms that “all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria
(northeastern China), Formosa (Taiwan) and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of
China.”
In July 1945, China, the U.S. and Britain issued the Potsdam Proclamation. It reiterated that “The
terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out.”
Japan also promised to abide by the Potsdam Proclamation in the Japanese Instrument of
Surrender in 1945 and the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement.
The founding of the PRC in 1949 didn’t alter the territorial limits of “China”, a subject of
international law, but only changed the international representation of China from “the Republic of
China” into “the People’s Republic of China”.
However, due to interference by external forces including the U.S., China’s lawful seat in the UN
was stolen and long occupied by the Chiang Kai-shek clique. That’s why the UNGA adopted
Resolution 2758 to restore all the rights of China to the PRC 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.”
During the discussion on the Resolution, the so-called representation of Taiwan in the UN and its
international status were denied outright. Minutes of the meetings of the UNGA showed that
sponsors of the Resolution 2758, including Albania and Algeria, believed that the UNGA
shouldn’t agree to partition China’s territory just because the Chiang Kai-shek clique is entrenched
in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the motions submitted by countries including the U.S. that proposed the so-called dual
representation of China and Taiwan in the UN and attempted to create “two Chinas” or “one
China, one Taiwan” were considered illegal and clearly inconsistent with current reality, justice
and the principles of the UN Charter and were not passed. It meant that the UN acknowledged that
China’s territorial scope wasn’t affected at all, and that Taiwan’s status as part of China had never
changed.
The one-China principle has become a widely recognized norm of international relations. The UN
and its specialized agencies all follow the principle. The UN has referred to Taiwan as “Taiwan,
Province of China” and has never accepted documents issued by the Taiwan authorities, such as
“Taiwan Passport”.
The Office of Legal Affairs of the UN Secretariat, in a number of legal opinions following the
Resolution 2758, stressed that “the United Nations considers ‘Taiwan’ as a province of China
with no separate status” and the “‘authorities’ in ‘Taipei’ are not considered to enjoy any form of
government status”.
The Shanghai Communique jointly issued by China and the U.S. in 1972 explicitly stated that
“The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain
there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States Government does not
challenge that position.”
The Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People’s
Republic of China and the United States of America signed in 1978 has also made clear that the
United States of America recognizes the government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole
legal government of China.
Taiwan’s status as an inalienable part of China has profound factual and legal basis. America’s act
of misrepresenting the Resolution 2758 adopted by the UNGA in defiance of history and
documents of international law, including the Cairo Declaration, constitutes gross violation of
international law and challenge to the post-war international order.
Such fallacies as “the representation of Taiwan in the UN remains to be determined” and
“Taiwan’s status is not yet determined” are untenable both de facto and de jure and don’t square
with facts.
The attempt to challenge resolution of the UNGA and the one-China principle universally
recognized by the international community is doomed to failure.
