China misinterpreting resolution 2758, says US official
Oct 23, 2021
Washington [US], October 23 : China has misinterpreted a United Nations resolution adopted in 1971 to exclude Taiwan from the international organization and its affiliates, said a US Department of State official.
"The People's Republic of China [PRC] has misused Resolution 2758 to prevent Taiwan's meaningful participation," said Rick Waters, deputy assistant secretary of state in the department's Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs, during a virtual talk hosted by the Washington-based German Marshall Fund on Thursday (local time), reported Taipei Times.
According to the publication, Waters said that Taiwan's exclusion from bloc activities "creates an immense cost" to the nation, as well as the UN's members, adding that "Beijing is denying the international community the ability to gain valuable contributions that Taiwan offers."
In the resolution which was adopted on October 25, 1971, the UN General Assembly decided 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," the Taipei Times reported.
Meanwhile, in Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked the US for firmly supporting Taiwan's bid to join UN organizations, the publication reported.
Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that US President Joe Biden does not want to see cross-Strait issues between China and Taiwan come to blows.
"The US defence relationship with Taiwan is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act. We will uphold our commitment under the Act, we will continue to support Taiwan's self-defence, and we will continue to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo," the official said.
Biden has made similar statements in the past, only to have the White House say longstanding US policy had not changed toward the island.
Under the "One China" policy, the US acknowledges China's claim of sovereignty over Taiwan. In recent weeks, Beijing has sent dozens of warplanes near into Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), and Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that "reunification" between China and Taiwan was inevitable.
