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China Reiterates One-China Principle
China on Friday reiterated that there is but one China in the world, Taiwan has been a part of its territory and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China.
The stance was expressed through a letter by its Permanent Representative to the United Nations Wang Yingfan and addressed to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in response to an act by Senegal and a very few other countries intended to include Taiwan's "participation" in the UN in the agenda of the 55th session of the UN General Assembly.
Delivered by Wang Yingfan, the letter said such an act is not only an flagrant violation of the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, but also a brazen challenge to the one-China principle widely recognized by the international community.
"It has severely encroached upon China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and grossly interfered in China's internal affairs. The Chinese Government strongly condemns and firmly opposes such an act and requests these countries to immediately correct this illegal act, which has obstructed the lofty cause of China's peaceful reunification," the letter said.
Since China's legitimate rights were restored at the UN in 1971, the Government of the People's Republic of China rightfully represents all Chinese, including 23 million Taiwanese compatriots, in the UN and all its subsidiary bodies and there is simply no such issue as the so-called "Taiwan's representation at the UN,"the letter said.
Wang noted that more than 160 countries have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of one-China principle. Since 1993 the UN has flatly refused to include in the General Assembly agenda the so-called Taiwan's participation in the UN, and the efforts by a few countries this year are doomed to fail as before.
He went on to say that the UN is an inter-governmental international organization composed of sovereign states, he said. As a province of China, Taiwan is not eligible to participate, in whatever name and under whatever pretext, in the work or activities of the UN and its specialized agencies, he said.
The question of Taiwan is purely an internal matter of China and a question for the Chinese people themselves to solve, Wang said, adding that China firmly believes that the question will come to an appropriate solution on the basis of the policy of "one country, two systems."
Reemphasizing China's position of peaceful reunification through equal dialogue between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits on the basis of the one-China principle, Wang said if Taiwan authorities really have the sincerity to get the question solved, they should unequivocally accept the one-China principle.
However, he said, the new leaders of Taiwan have stuck to an evasive and ambiguous attitude towards the one-China principle and that the separatist moves of Taiwan authorities are the source of tension in the Taiwan Straits.
The act of the handful of countries "will only serve to add fuel to the separatist moves of the Taiwan authorities, undermine the lofty cause of China's reunification and jeopardize peace and security in the Asia-Pacific region and in the world at large. The Chinese Government firmly opposes this," Wang declared.
Receiving the letter in absence of Annan who is on a visit to Africa, UN Under-Secretary-General and Chief de Cabinet of the Secretary-General's Executive Office Riza S. Iqbal said the UN's one-China policy is clear.
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