Eight More Nations Join The US Japan And South Korea In Defending The Taiwan Strait Status Quo

As President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping prepared for their second summit of the year, the United Nations General Assembly convened this week at UN headquarters in New York, drawing nearly 130 heads of state and government along with a string of sideline meetings among European and Indo-Pacific partners. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday that Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung had expressed strong appreciation and gratitude after several of those meetings produced joint statements opposing any unilateral attempt to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

During the General Assembly's general debate on September 22, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun. Their joint statement afterward reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, opposed any unilateral attempt to alter the status quo, and voiced support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations. Taiwan's foreign ministry said Lin extended his sincere welcome and thanks for the statement.

Separately that same day, foreign ministers and senior representatives from eight European and Indo-Pacific partner countries, Australia, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, held their second such meeting on the sidelines of the assembly and issued their own joint statement. Taiwan's foreign ministry said the statement devoted a standalone paragraph to affirming the importance of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, encouraging dialogue, and opposing any unilateral change to the Taiwan Strait status quo, while noting that security, peace, and prosperity in Europe and the Indo-Pacific are becoming increasingly intertwined and pledging deeper cooperation to confront complex, hybrid threats and strengthen resilience. Lin again offered his strong appreciation and thanks.

Taiwan's foreign ministry said the country welcomes continued attention from the international community and like-minded partners to the importance of peace, stability, and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Facing escalating geopolitical and regional pressure, the ministry said, Taiwan will keep strengthening its self-defense and whole of society resilience, and will continue deepening cooperation with all like-minded democratic partners on the foundation already built, working together to safeguard peace and stability across the Strait while promoting regional security and prosperity.

Also during the 81st session of the General Assembly, several of Taiwan's diplomatic allies wrote to the United Nations urging it to take seriously Taiwan's aspiration to participate in the international body. Responding to questions from Taiwan's Central News Agency, a European Union spokesperson noted that UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 runs only about 150 words and never mentions Taiwan by name, and said that as long as Taiwan meets the relevant rules or customary practice of an international organization, its participation should be permitted. The spokesperson reiterated that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait carry strategic importance for regional and global security and prosperity, that differences should be resolved through cross strait dialogue, and that the EU opposes any unilateral action to change the status quo.

Taiwan's foreign ministry said Lin extended his sincere welcome and thanks for the EU's position, adding that Resolution 2758 neither mentions Taiwan nor provides any legal basis for what China calls its "one China principle," and should not be distorted or invoked to exclude Taiwan from the UN system or other international organizations. Only Taiwan's democratically elected government, the ministry stressed, can represent Taiwan's 23 million people within the UN system and other multilateral mechanisms.

The ministry reiterated that the Republic of China, Taiwan, is a sovereign and independent state that is not subordinate to the People's Republic of China, a status quo it described as a fact recognized by the international community. It said the EU's response reflects how seriously like-minded democratic partners take Taiwan and the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, and that Taiwan will continue strengthening cooperation with the EU and other like-minded partners to jointly safeguard peace and stability across the Strait and the wider Indo-Pacific, defend the rules based international order, and contribute further to global peace, security, and prosperity.

Original Article in Chinese

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