By Jiang Zaidong, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan
In October 1971, the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), with an overwhelming majority, adopted the draft resolution proposed by Pakistan and 22 other countries. The UNGA Resolution 2758, which decided to “restore all its lawful rights to the People’s Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations”, and to “expel forthwith the representatives of Taiwan authority from the UN and all the organizations related to it”. This resolution settled once and for all the political, legal and procedural issues of the representation of the whole of China, including Taiwan, in the UN.
It also explicitly spelled out that China has one single seat in the UN, so there is no such thing as “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan”. It can be concluded that the UNGA Resolution 2758 embodies in clear logic and solid jurisprudence the one-China principle that there is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.
Recently, certain forces, driven by geopolitical self-interest, have been distorting and challenging the UNGA Resolution 2758, spreading the fallacy that the resolution “did not address Taiwan’s legal status or clarify its sovereignty.” Such narratives are false fabrications aimed at undermining the legal foundation of the one-China principle. This is indulgence and support for “Taiwan independence” forces, flagrant interference in China’s internal affairs, a blatant challenge to the post-war international order, and a serious threat to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. I would like to share some fundamental facts with our Pakistani friends to enhance the comprehensive understanding of the one-China principle so that we’ll jointly resist any attempts to distort or challenge the UNGA Resolution 2758.
Taiwan has always been part of China, this is a historical fact, an international consensus, as well as the key political premise for the UNGA’s adoption of Resolution 2758. In 1895, Japan forced then Qing Dynasty of China to cede Taiwan through a war of aggression. In 1945, following the victory of the Chinese people’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Taiwan was returned to China. The Cairo Declaration (1943) and the Potsdam Proclamation (1945), issued by the principal Allied Powers, stated in explicit terms that Taiwan is a territory that Japan had stolen from the Chinese, and shall be restored to China. Japan also signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender (1945), pledging to “carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration in good faith.” These legally binding international instruments all affirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and formed a critical part of the post-war international order.
In 1949, the Government of the People’s Republic of China replaced the Government of the Republic of China as the sole legal government representing the whole of China. Even before the adoption of UNGA Resolution 2758, the UN had already reviewed the status of Taiwan in accordance with the UN Charter. During the resolution’s deliberation, the vast majority of UN member states agreed that the issue was not about admitting a new UN member but about China’s representation in the organization. In fact, even the so-called “representative” of the Taiwan authorities admitted at the time that “other countries have always stressed the fact that Taiwan is part of China, which I could not agree more.” But during the drafting process, the US colluded with a handful of other countries and proposed a “dual representation” scheme, attempting to create “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan,” but it was resoundingly rejected by the overwhelming majority of UN member states. By contrast, the UNGA Resolution 2758, which restored the lawful seat of the People’s Republic of China in the UN, was adopted by an overwhelming majority. This fully demonstrated that the vast majority of UN member states recognized and accepted the objective reality that there’s only one China.
In the early 1970s, following the resolution’s adoption, the People’s Republic of China witnessed its third and largest wave of diplomatic recognition, with over 50 countries establishing diplomatic ties. To date, 183 countries have established and developed diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle. And for decades, the UN and its specialized agencies have consistently upheld that Taiwan is a province of China and handled Taiwan-related issues in strict accordance with the one-China principle. The UN Office of Legal Affairs has explicitly stated that “Taiwan, as a province of China, has no independent status”, “the Taiwan authorities do not enjoy any form of government status”, and that “any reference to ‘Taiwan’ in documents of the UN Secretariat must use the designation ‘Taiwan, Province of China’.” These facts prove that the one-China principle had become a universal consensus of the international community and a fundamental norm of international relations.
From 1965 to 1971, Pakistan remained a co-sponsor of the draft resolutions at successive UNGA sessions, supporting the restoration of China’s lawful rights in the UN. On October 25th, 1971, at the 1,976th plenary meeting of the UNGA, Ambassador Agha Shahi, then Pakistani representative to the UN, spoke multiple times in defence of the draft resolution and insisted on an immediate vote. He pointedly remarked that the US “dual representation” proposal “runs counter to the UN Charter’s principle of territorial integrity by seeking to make an imposed de facto separation a de jure separation.”
Today, as China’s ironclad brother, Pakistan continues to firmly uphold the UNGA Resolution 2758 and the one-China principle. In the Joint Statement issued in February 2025, China and Pakistan emphasized that the authority of the UNGA Resolution 2758 brooks no question or challenge. The Pakistani side reaffirmed its firm commitment to the one-China principle. It is of the view that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China and the Taiwan question is the core of China’s core interests. It firmly supports all efforts made by China to achieve national reunification and resolutely opposes all forms of “Taiwan independence.” China extends heartfelt gratitude to Pakistan for its longstanding support for China on Taiwan-related issues.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, as well as the 80th anniversary of Taiwan’s recovery from Japanese occupation. 80 years ago, China defeated the brutal Japanese aggressors and put Taiwan back under China’s sovereign jurisdiction. Today, a stronger China will never allow Taiwan to be seceded from its territory. Taiwan is never a country, not in the past, and never in the future. Realizing China’s complete reunification is a shared aspiration of the Chinese nation. It is an inevitable trend, and it is what the greater national interests entail. No force can obstruct the inevitable reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. China will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable!
