By H.E. Yin Chengwu, Chinese Ambassador to Liberia
The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. Eighty years ago, the forces of justice around the world, including China and Liberia, united in courageous battles against their common foes and defeated the overbearing fascist powers. The triumph made a historic contribution to safeguarding world peace and advancing the progress of humanity. After the war, the international community drew profound lessons from the devastation of two global conflicts. Together, they established an international system with the United Nations (UN) at its core, an international order underpinned by international law, and a set of basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
Taiwan’s restoration to China is an outcome of the WWII victory and part and parcel of the postwar international order, which is reaffirmed by a series of instruments with legal effect under international law, namely the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender and so on. It is particularly worth mentioning that in October 1971, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758. This resolution settled completely the political, legal and procedural issues regarding the representation of the whole of China, including Taiwan, at the UN. It made clear that there is only one seat of China in the UN, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal representative, precluding “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan”. At the UN, Taiwan is referred to as “Taiwan, Province of China”.
Under the current framework of international order, the Taiwan region, as a Province of the People’s Republic of China, has no right to participate in the UN or other international organizations that are exclusively composed of sovereign states. The UN is an intergovernmental international organization made up of sovereign states. After the lawful rights of the government of the People’s Republic of China were restored in the UN, the issue of Chinese representation in the organization was completely resolved.
There is no question of the Taiwan authority joining the UN. All member states of the UN should abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, as well as relevant UN resolutions, and follow the norms of international relations, such as mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs. They should not support Taiwan’s participation in the UN or other international organizations that are only open to sovereign states in any form. In May this year, the 78th World Health Assembly (WHA) decided not to include the so-called proposal of “inviting Taiwan to participate in the WHA as an observer”, raised by a few member states, in its agenda. This marks the ninth consecutive year that the WHA has rejected the so-called proposal related to Taiwan, upholding the authority of the UN and the post-war international order. Liberia, as a member of the General Committee of this WHA, staunchly upholds the one-China principle and firmly supports China on issues related to Taiwan in WHA. China highly appreciates this stance.
In recent years, a number of countries have established or resumed diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. They all recognize that there is but one China in the world, that the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. These countries have severed “diplomatic ties” with Taiwan without delay, and have pledged not to establish any official relations or conduct any official exchanges with the Taiwan region. At the same time, many countries have issued joint statements and other forms of declarations reaffirming their commitment to the one-China principle, stating explicitly that there is but one China in the world, that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and that the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. They resolutely oppose all forms of “Taiwan independence” and strongly support the efforts of the Chinese government to achieve national reunification. This demonstrates that the one-China principle under the current international order is a universal consensus of the international community and reflects the will of the people.
We firmly believe that a fair and just international order will surely be continuously upheld, and the historic mission of China’s complete reunification will certainly be accomplished.
