ANALYSIS | China celebrates 50 years at the UN and is determined to keep Taiwan out of the body

(CNN) – On a day like today 50 years ago, representatives from around the world gathered at the United Nations headquarters in New York for a vote that changed history.

At the end of the day, the ROC, a government that fled to Taiwan after losing the Chinese civil war in 1949, was left out of the world organization. Instead, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the communist government that seized power on the mainland, was recognized as the “only legitimate representative of China” and admitted to the UN as a permanent member of the Security Council with the right veto.

It was a severe blow to the Nationalist government, which had been one of the founding members of the UN and had contributed to the Allied victory in World War II. When the Taipei delegation left the General Assembly hall that night, its foreign minister bitterly warned that the decision would threaten peace around the world.

“This is dangerous nonsense”, said.

After the communist victory and the founding of the PRC in 1949, both the nationalist and communist governments claimed to be the only representatives of the entire Chinese territory, forcing other countries and international organizations to choose one or the other.

A bank disputed for 50 years

At first, many countries clung to their alliances with the ROC and avoided the People’s Republic. But over time, more and more governments shifted diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, leaving Taiwan with only 15 diplomatic allies today.

The UN was also forced to choose, and the fateful 1971 vote eventually reflected the change in “China” that its members had chosen to recognize.

Dual representation at the UN had already been raised as a possible solution, but was rejected by both Beijing and Taipei. “There is no place for patriots and traitors to coexist,” said Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the defeated nationalists, in 1961.

In the decades since the vote, the resolution has helped shape China’s rise as a world power, giving it broad voting power to “participate in the UN bureaucracy and shape the language of UN resolutions. “said Maggie Lewis, an expert on contemporary Chinese law at Seton Hall University.

And under increasing pressure from Beijing, Taiwan has been increasingly isolating itself diplomatically, being excluded from major agencies such as the World Health Organization.

Persistent tensions between China and Taiwan

Beijing, for its part, continues to view Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory, despite the fact that the two sides have been ruled separately for more than seven decades and the Chinese Communist Party has never controlled the democratic island of some 24 million. population.

Despite these pressures, Taiwan has continued to maintain relations with several key Western partners, notably the United States, which provides Taiwan with weapons and has sent senior officials to visit the island.

In a statement Saturday, the US State Department said US and Taiwanese officials had met for a “discussion focused on supporting Taiwan’s ability to meaningfully participate in the UN.”

“The US participants reiterated the US commitment to Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the World Health Organization and the UN framework convention on climate change and discussed ways to highlight Taiwan’s ability to contribute to the efforts on a wide range of issues, “he added.

Unsurprisingly, the statement was greeted with outrage in China, which views such suggestions as a dangerous signal to advocates of Taiwan’s formal independence.

China lashes out at the Biden administration

Chinese state media was quick to lash out at the Biden administration as “the most incapable and degenerate in the country’s history,” adding that Taiwan had “fabricated history and betrayed morals.” The pressure for Taiwan’s participation in the UN was a “cheap blow” and “blatant manipulation,” he said.

Although only sovereign states can be full members of the UN, Taipei has accused Beijing of “willfully misinterpreting” the 1971 resolution to keep Taiwan out, suggesting that Taipei no longer disputes China’s seat at the UN. Many on the island simply want to participate separately under the name Taiwan.

The 1971 resolution “was limited to deciding the question of credentials, that is, the question of who represents the UN member state, China, without implying a position on the scope of its territory, much less endorsing the claim of PRC sovereignty over Taiwan, “Liang-yu Wang, deputy representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Bureau in the United States, the island’s de facto embassy, ​​said Thursday.

“But over the years, China has jumped from an accreditation issue, to a political statement, even to a legal claim,” he added. “Therefore, today the resolution is often misquoted to exclude Taiwan’s participation in meetings and activities in the UN system.”

Even “superficial participation” has been blocked, and meaningful participation will be even more difficult, said Chinese legal expert Lewis. In Beijing’s eyes, even Taiwan’s most marginal inclusion in the UN could undermine its claim to sovereignty, a bottom line it has vowed to uphold at all costs.