China has criticized the United States for what it calls a deliberate distortion of United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758, asserting that the U.S. has no right to arbitrarily misinterpret the resolution. Yang Tao, Director General of the Department of North American and Oceanian Affairs at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, made the remarks at a briefing on Friday.
Yang’s comments came in response to recent statements by U.S. officials challenging China’s interpretation of Resolution 2758, which was adopted in 1971 to restore the People’s Republic of China’s lawful seat at the UN and expel the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek.
At a seminar held by a U.S. think tank, Mark Lambert, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, claimed that Resolution 2758 “does not endorse, equate to, or reflect an international consensus on the one-China principle” and “has absolutely no bearing on countries’ sovereignty choices with respect to their relationships with Taiwan.”
Yang Tao refuted these claims, stating, “There is but one China in the world. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. The Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.” He emphasized that Resolution 2758 fully recognizes the one-China principle.
According to Yang, the resolution resolved politically, legally, and procedurally the issue of China’s representation at the UN, including Taiwan. He cited the resolution’s text, which 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.”
Yang pointed out that since the adoption of the resolution, the one-China principle has been observed by the UN and its specialized agencies on the Taiwan question, with Taiwan referred to as “Taiwan, province of China” in all official UN documents.
He stressed that, as stipulated in the UN Charter, the one-China principle is a fundamental norm in international relations that all UN member states must follow. He criticized the United States for challenging the post-war international order, stating, “As a signatory to the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, the United States is well aware of the historical and legal fact that Taiwan belongs to China.”
Yang warned that any attempts by the U.S. to use Taiwan to contain China are “doomed to fail.”
Reference(s):
China says U.S. has no right to distort UNGA Resolution 2758
cgtn.com
