Taipei: Taiwan’s government on Friday rebutted criticism from Chinese authorities of President Lai Ching-te’s National Day address, asserting that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 does not determine Taiwan’s status and urging Beijing to share responsibility for peace in the Taiwan Strait.
According to Focus Taiwan, in a Friday speech marking the Republic of China’s (ROC, Taiwan’s official name) 114th National Day, President Lai urged China to “take responsibility as a major power and cease its distortion of U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758 and historical World War II documents.” Resolution 2758, adopted in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the only legitimate representative of China, expelling the representative of then ROC President Chiang Kai-shek. This resolution has been used by Beijing to justify its “One China Principle,” claiming Taiwan as part of its territory, a view Taiwan criticizes as a distortion.
Following Lai’s speech, Guo Jiakun, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, stated that Lai repeated “the same old fallacies for ‘Taiwan independence,'” distorting historical facts and challenging international consensus. Guo cited international legal instruments, including the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation, which affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan, asserting that Resolution 2758 resolved China’s representation at the U.N.
In response, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) released a statement emphasizing that the Treaty of San Francisco, effective in 1952, supersedes wartime declarations and “did not hand over Taiwan to the PRC.” MOFA asserted that the PRC has never governed Taiwan and has no authority to represent it internationally, criticizing the PRC’s distortion of Resolution 2758 to exclude Taiwan from the U.N. system.
Further exchanges occurred between China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) and Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC). TAO spokesperson Chen Binhua accused Lai of adhering to a ‘Taiwan independence’ stance and militarizing for independence. The MAC rebutted, stressing Taiwan’s resolve to defend itself amid global changes and condemning Beijing’s military provocations as destabilizing in the Indo-Pacific region.
The MAC called on China to act responsibly to safeguard peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, highlighting the need for cooperation rather than confrontation.
