The Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are both sovereign and independent countries and that neither is subordinate to the other. Taiwan is a democratic and free society, and its future will be determined by the 23 million people of Taiwan. The PRC has no authority to speak for Taiwan or decide its future.
Taiwan interacts with other nations and engages in a variety of diplomatic activities worldwide on the basis of its national sovereignty, actively making concrete contributions to the international community. Taiwan has become an indispensable partner in safeguarding global peace and prosperity. This has never been predicated on obtaining China’s consent or satisfying any political preconditions set by Beijing.
United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758 merely addressed the issue of China’s representation in the United Nations and that it made no mention of Taiwan throughout its entire text. The resolution did not determine that Taiwan was part of the PRC, and it certainly did not authorize the PRC to represent Taiwan in the UN system. Thus, the resolution has no bearing on Taiwan and cannot serve as a basis for precluding Taiwan’s participation in the UN system or other multilateral mechanisms. Only the democratically elected government of Taiwan has the right to represent Taiwan in the UN system and other international organizations and multilateral mechanisms.
The Embassy also notes that following World War II, the Treaty of San Francisco—which has the force of international law—replaced political declarations such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation. The treaty did not grant sovereignty over Taiwan to the PRC, and the PRC has never governed Taiwan. Therefore, Taiwan is by no means part of the PRC.
Moreover, in the mid-1980s, Taiwan began a bottom-up transition toward political liberalization and democratization, culminating in its first direct presidential election in 1996. Since then, the representatives of the executive and legislative branches of the government have all been democratically elected by the people of Taiwan, making the ROC (Taiwan) government the sole lawful government that effectively governs and represents Taiwan internationally. This has also established the objective fact that the ROC (Taiwan) and the PRC exist as equals and the status quo that neither is subordinate to the other.
Taiwan urges the international community to continue taking concrete action to counter China’s misrepresentation of UNGA Resolution 2758 and jointly refute China’s efforts to claim that the issue of Taiwan is an internal matter by improperly linking the resolution to the so-called “one China principle,” thereby attempting to change the objective cross-strait status quo and establish a legal basis for the potential future use of force against Taiwan.
Taiwan also calls on the UN system to strictly abide by the principle of neutrality and refrain from acquiescing to the PRC’s unreasonable suppression of Taiwan’s legitimate right to seek participation and acceding to inappropriate statements on behalf of all UN member states.
Taiwan, as a force for good in the international community, is capable of actively contributing to the UN system’s varied initiatives, including the Sustainable Development Goals and international peace and security. Only by including Taiwan can the United Nations truly realize the principle of universality and the goal of leaving no one behind.
The Government of ROC (Taiwan) will continue to defend its national sovereignty and dignity, expand and deepen substantive relations with other countries, and strive for even greater international participation to ensure peace, stability, and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait and the region. (E)
