Taiwan says China using UN resolution to try to create legal basis for ‘future military aggression’

ISTANBUL

Taiwan on Wednesday accused China of trying to create a legal basis for "future military aggression” after Beijing issued a paper reiterating its one-China principle and claiming that a UN General Assembly resolution "fully embodies" it.

Resolution 2758 recognizes China as the "only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations," preventing Taiwan from being designated a separate country.

China's saying the resolution "fully embodies" the one-China principle is "a deliberate attempt to mislead" the international community and alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, "creating a legal basis for future military aggression against Taiwan," Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Only Taiwan's democratically elected government can represent Taiwan's 23 million people in the United Nations system and multilateral international mechanisms," it said.

The resolution makes no mention of Taiwan, it added.

China’s Tuesday position paper on the resolution says: “The resolution makes it clear that there is but one China in the world and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate representative of the whole of China, including the Taiwan region. There is no such thing as 'two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan'."

Beijing "naturally and fully enjoys and exercises China’s sovereignty, including sovereignty over the Taiwan region; and also naturally represents the whole China in international relations, including enjoying and exercising all the rights of China in the UN," it said.

Taiwan’s status was “fundamentally resolved in 1945,” after the end of World War II, it said, adding that this victory “shall by no means be undermined by the false narratives of some Western politicians.”

China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province. Taipei has rejected the claim and insisted on its independence since 1949.