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USA promises Taiwan participation in the United Nations - new dispute with China

2021-10-25T15:44:47.665Z


Fifty years after its exclusion, the US has promised Taiwan participation in the United Nations. China, on the other hand, is celebrating 50 years of admission to the UN and does not want to allow Taiwan under any circumstances.


Fifty years after its exclusion, the US has promised Taiwan participation in the United Nations.

China, on the other hand, is celebrating 50 years of admission to the UN and does not want to allow Taiwan under any circumstances.

Beijing / Taipei / Munich - Just in time for the 50th anniversary of China's admission to the United Nations, there is another dispute over Taiwan. It is also the 50th anniversary of the expulsion of Taiwan from the UN on October 25, 1971. The UN had thereby recognized the “one China principle of the People's Republic, according to which there is only one China - and therefore only one among them United Nations. Now, however, the USA surprisingly promised Taiwan "significant" cooperation at the UN and other international forums. Foreign policy-makers from both sides came together for a virtual meeting on Friday.

"The discussions focused on supporting Taiwan's ability to participate in a meaningful way with the United Nations," said the US State Department over the weekend. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change explicitly named it for this purpose. The talks were about “global challenges” such as health, development aid, climate change and environmental pollution, technical standards and economic cooperation, it said. The US officials have also reiterated US support for Taiwan's "meaningful participation" in the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Agreement, it said. The Taiwanese delegation thanked the meeting for the longstanding support of the USA. The island has long tried in vainto obtain at least observer status with the WHO.

China strictly against Taiwan's participation in the United Nations

But now a growing dynamic can be observed in the West to support and involve Taiwan more strongly.

US President Joe Biden said on

CNN

last week

to defend the island in the event of an attack by China. It is unclear whether this was a spontaneous statement or whether it is Washington's official policy. But the word is in the world. At the same time, the EU Parliament voted by a large majority in favor of closer relations with Taiwan and a future investment agreement between both sides. Lithuania recently allowed Taiwan to open a "Taiwan Representation" in the capital Vilnius - much to China's annoyance. Beijing always regards the use of the name Taiwan in diplomatic business as a provocation. Taiwan is urging deeper cooperation with Europe. In Taipei you should be delighted to see the changed mood.

Beijing, on the other hand, is anything but amused by this development. The situation on the Taiwan Strait has been tense for weeks. China has repeatedly sent fighter jets into Taiwan's so-called Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which is far larger than Taiwan's airspace and extends to the coast of China. Taiwan publicly announced that it would strengthen its defense capabilities. There were also reports that US soldiers were training the military in Taiwan. There are reports that Beijing politicians are convinced that Taiwan is preparing a formal declaration of independence. President Tsai Ing-wen has always insisted on fighting only to maintain the status quo. But her DPP party comes from the independence movement. An official declaration of independence would be a red line for China.Like all heads of state and party leaders before him, Xi has never ruled out a violent conquest of the island, which is seen as a breakaway province.

One China principle: Taiwan has hardly been recognized by diplomatic means

As a consequence of the recognition of the People's Republic by the UN, the representatives of the Taiwan-based national Chinese Republic of China were expelled from the UN in 1971.

The national Chinese Kuomintang government had fled to Taiwan after the defeat in the civil war against the Communist Party under Mao Zedong, while they founded the People's Republic in Beijing in 1949.

What made the exclusion easier: In 1971 Taiwan was still an authoritarian dictatorship.

Democratization did not begin until later.

Due to Beijing's one-China policy, diplomatic partners of the People's Republic have not been allowed to maintain official relations with Taipei since 1971. Only fewer than 20 mostly smaller states still recognize Taiwan today - and in return they forego diplomatic relations with the People's Republic.

In his speech on the 50th anniversary of admission to the UN, China's President Xi Jinping emphasized on Monday in Beijing that with Resolution 2758 the UN General Assembly recognized on October 25, 1971 that the government representatives of the People's Republic, founded in Beijing in 1949, were the "only legitimate representatives of China in the UN “. It was a "great event" that the "new China" got its rightful seat in the United Nations. The People's Republic even took over Taiwan's permanent seat on the UN Security Council, which it still holds today.

Beijing would never allow Taipei to join the United Nations, said former US ambassador Cui Tiankai on Monday in his first public appearance since he stepped down as China's longest-serving ambassador in June. "This would go completely against the course of history." Resolution 2758 and the one-China principle were recognized by the USA at the time. "Why are you now trying to reverse this?" Foreign Office spokesman Wang Wenbin also sharply criticized it in Beijing. "The attempts by the Taiwanese authorities to use foreigners to expand their so-called international space are about expanding the space for Taiwan's independence and secession," he said. This is doomed to failure.

Taiwan and the UN: Dispute over the interpretation of the 1971 exclusion - and the possibilities from it

Taiwan's government naturally sees the situation differently.

She contradicted China's presentation that the UN recognized in 1971 that Taiwan was part of the People's Republic.

The UN resolution only dealt with the question of China's representation in the UN system.

"It does not say that Taiwan is part of the People's Republic, nor does it authorize the People's Republic to represent the people of Taiwan," said Foreign Office spokeswoman Joanne Ou in Taipei on Monday.

"Only the democratically elected government of Taiwan has the right to represent its people in international organizations at the UN or in international forums."

(Ck / with dpa)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-10-25

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