China trying to create legal basis for invasion with UN resolution’s interpretation, says Taiwan

Taiwan on Wednesday accused China of trying to create a legal basis for an invasion of the self-ruled island with its misinterpretation of the United Nations (UN) Resolution 2758 from 1971 — the most important consequential international diplomatic decision in the China-Taiwan dispute.

By claiming that the UN Resolution 2758 recognised China’s claim over Taiwan’s territory, China was trying to create a legal basis for changing the status quo and invading the self-ruled island in the future, said Taiwan’s foreign ministry, according to Reuters.

China considers the self-ruled island of Taiwan to be a breakaway province and is committed to merge it with the mainland — forcefully if needed. The US intelligence community has concluded that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ordered the Chinese military to be prepared for an invasion of Taiwan by 2027. He has set 2049 —the centenary of the establishment of Communist China— as the deadline for Taiwan’s merger.

Even as most of the world recognises China and maintains only informal relations without formal recognition with Taiwan, most of the major powers —including the United States, the UK, and India— oppose the change of the status quo by force.

What did China say about UN resolution?

In a statement about the Chinese interpretation of the UN resolution, Taiwan said China was “deliberately misleading” the international community.

“This aims to create a legal basis for altering the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and for future military assault against Taiwan. Only Taiwan’s democratically elected government can represent the 23 million people of Taiwan within the United Nations system and multilateral international mechanisms,” said Taiwan.

In response, the Chinese foreign ministry told Reuters that no matter what Taiwan says, it does not change the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait are part of “one China” and that “reunification” would happen — China has long called the envisioned invasion, occupation, and subsequent merger of Taiwan “reunification”.

The current controversy is rooted in a Chinese foreign ministry statement on Tuesday that resorted to the Cold War-era language, calling Taiwan a “reactionary” entity and its founders a “clique”, and said the UN resolution granted China rights over all Chinese lands, including Taiwan.

“Any attempt to challenge resolution 2758 constitutes not only a challenge to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also a challenge to the authority of the UN,” the statement read.