The One-China Principle is a Universally Recognized Basic Norm Governing International Relations

In 1972, Yu Guangzhong, a well-known Chinese poet from Taiwan wrote, “now my nostalgia looms large to be a shallow channel. Here am I. And there… my mainland.” These lines are outpouring emotion of a countryman in Taiwan for the mainland. Then what has kept Taiwan compatriots away over the shallow Strait? And how did the Taiwan question arise?

The Taiwan question is essentially a remnant of China’s civil war and is China’s internal affairs. After World War II, Taiwan was returned to China de jure and de facto. On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was founded, and the Government of the PRC became the sole legal government representing the whole of China and the sole legitimate representative of China in the international community. As a natural result, the government of the PRC should enjoy and exercise China’s full sovereignty, which includes its sovereignty over Taiwan.

On October 25, 1971, the 26th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted, with an overwhelming majority, Resolution 2758, which decides to restore all its rights to the People’s Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of the Taiwan authorities from the place which they unlawfully occupied. Once and for all, UNGA Resolution 2758 resolved, politically, legally and procedurally, the issue of the representation of the whole of China, including Taiwan, at the UN. It also made it clear that there can only be one single seat representing China at the UN, and that is the People’s Republic of China, thus fully eliminating any room for anyone, any country or any force to create “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan”.

There is but one China in the world; Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory; and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. The one-China principle is a basic norm in international relations, an established international consensus, and the political foundation on which China establishes and develops bilateral relations with 183 countries including the Philippines. Last January, the resumption of China-Nauru diplomatic ties shows to the world again that the one-China principle is where global opinion trends and the arc of history bends. The voice of justice and peace from the international community reflects the extensive consensus on firmly upholding the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations.

The elections in Taiwan are just local elections in one part of China. The result does not change, even in the slightest terms, the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China. Nor does it change the historical trend of Taiwan’s return to the motherland. Since the elections ended, more than 180 countries and international organizations have reaffirmed their commitment to the one-China principle, support for China in safeguarding its sovereignty and territorial integrity, opposition to “Taiwan independence” in all its forms, and support for China’s reunification. Someday, there will be a family photo of the whole international community in which all members uphold the one-China principle.

Though separated, people on both sides of the Strait still share the same weal and woe. China will eventually achieve complete reunification, Taiwan will inevitably return to the embrace of the motherland, and the Chinese compatriots across the Strait will no longer be inflicted by nostalgia.