Taiwan is an integral part of China

Two days ago, on September 19, the United Nations rejected the fifteenth application by Taiwan to join the UN. In recent years, the General Assembly of the United Nations is witness to this September tradition. Separatists in Taiwan, through some of the 20 countries that it still maintains relations with, insists on presenting its request which has been rejected outright by the international community for the last 15 years. Because 169 members from 193 countries of the UN recognize that there is only one China, Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. The Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legitimate government in all Chinese territories. This has demonstrated the firm determination of a large number of member states to safeguard the United Nations Charter. The performance of the Taiwan authorities has seriously obstructed the work of the General Assembly and has wasted the precious resources of the United Nations and its member states.

Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times. Taiwan begins to appear in the historical records of China in the 3rd century AD. In 1895, after a war invading China, Japan took Taiwan by force. The fight against Japan and to return Taiwan to the homeland never ended. During the Second World War, China, as part of the worldwide antifascist struggle, had broad support of the peoples of the world. The people of Taiwan, with mainland China, fought heroically against the Japanese invaders. In December 1943, the Cairo Declaration (signed by China, United States and England) provided that Japan should return Taiwan and other stolen Chinese territories to China. The Potsdam Declaration, signed in 1945, reiterated: "The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be completed.” These two statements clearly reaffirmed the sovereignty of China in Taiwan as a matter of international law. On August 15 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies. In this treaty, Japan stated that it "accepts the articles of the Potsdam Declaration of July 26, 1945 jointly signed by China, United States and England and the subsequent involvement of the Soviet Union." On October 25 of the same year, the Chinese government recovered Taiwan and resumed the exercise of its sovereignty over Taiwan.

On October 1, 1949, the founding of the People's Republic China was proclaimed, thus replacing the previous government. This was the replacement of one power by another subject to unchanging international law, while the sovereignty and borders of the original territory of China remained unchanged. But the Taiwan issue, a result of the civil war in China, resulted from the intrusion of foreign forces. And, to date, we still have not reunified China. Although the Chinese mainland and Taiwan are not yet reunified, the fact that both are integral parts of China has never changed.

The United Nations Charter clearly states that only sovereign states are entitled to apply for membership in the United Nations. The principle of universality is also based on sovereign states. As part of China, Taiwan has never been a sovereign state. Therefore, it is not eligible to participate in the UN. No sovereign state in the world would allow one of its provinces or regions to participate in the UN.

Safeguarding state sovereignty and territorial integrity are of vital interest to China. Our thrust to solve the problem of Taiwan is "peaceful reunification" and "one country, two systems". We can discuss the solution to any problem within a framework of one China. But we can never tolerate "Taiwanese Independence", nor ever allow Taiwan to be separated from China by any force, under any pretext or in any form other than the above stated aim.

We express our deep appreciation of Chile for its consistent stand on the One China issue, as well as its opposition to two Chinas. It has shown strong support for China’s valid pursuit of reunification during the past 37 years, ever since diplomatic ties were established.