LETTER: The UN must stop enabling Beijing’s distortion of its own principles | Opinion

This September, leaders from around the world will gather in New York for the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, under the theme “Better Together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.”

It is an inspiring vision. But for 23 million people in Taiwan, it is also a bitter reminder of an exclusion rooted, not in the UN Charter or in international law, but in the deliberate misinterpretation of a single resolution passed over 50 years ago.

In 1971, UNGA Resolution 2758 settled the question of who represents “China” at the United Nations. It recognized the People’s Republic of China, PRC, and removed the “representatives of Chiang Kai-shek.”

However, it did not say that Taiwan is part of the PRC, nor did it grant Beijing the right to govern or speak for Taiwan. Taiwan’s future belongs only to the people of Taiwan.

Beijing knows this. Yet for decades, it has worked relentlessly to twist the meaning of 2758 to incorporate it into its so-called “one China principle,” which exists only as a political claim and not an internationally agreed-upon fact.

By pressuring UN member states and the UN Secretariat to adopt this distortion, the PRC has wrongfully excluded Taiwan from the UN system and gone as far as to block Taiwanese journalists from covering UN events. This is not the action of a responsible stakeholder. It is the calculated strategy of a regime determined to erase a free and democratic Taiwan from the global stage.

This campaign is about more than Taiwan. It is about whether the UN will uphold its founding principles to maintain peace, resolve disputes without force, and protect the rights of all peoples. Or will it let an authoritarian government reshape global rules for its own gain?

If the UN yields to this pressure, it will set a dangerous precedent that threatens peace and stability far beyond the Taiwan Strait.

The stakes are especially high in 2025, as the clock ticks toward the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, SDG. Taiwan is ready to contribute, as we have during global public health crises, disaster relief, climate resilience, and technological innovation.

Our democratic governance, free press, and respect for human rights stand in sharp contrast to Beijing’s authoritarian model. Denying Taiwan’s participation undermines not only the SDGs’ core principles of inclusivity but also calls into question the UN’s own credibility.

It is time for the UN to return to the plain meaning of Resolution 2758, end discriminatory policies against Taiwan passport holders and journalists, and find meaningful ways for Taiwan to participate in the work of the UN system.

The world gains nothing by silencing Taiwan, but it stands to lose greatly if it allows Beijing’s coercion to dictate who has a voice on the global stage.

Taiwan will continue to stand for peace, freedom, and democracy. We call on all nations that share our values, including our friends and supporters here on Guam, to stand with Taiwan.

The alternative is a world where might makes right, and where the UN’s promises are reduced to mere words on paper. The people of Taiwan deserve better. The world deserves better.

Chia-ping Liu is the director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Guam.

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