A motion passed by the U.K. House of Commons affirming that U.N. General Assembly Resolution 2758 does not mention Taiwan is deeply appreciated by the government and people, both the Presidential Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Nov. 29.
Proposed by Blair McDougall, a member of the lower house’s Foreign Affairs Committee, the motion was jointly signed by cross-party MPs including Sarah Champion, co-chair of the British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group, and Iain Duncan Smith, co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, among others.
According to the motion, UNGA Resolution 2758 does not mention Taiwan, and neither does it address the political status of Taiwan, nor establish The People’s Republic of China’s sovereignty over Taiwan. It is silent both on the status of Taiwan in the U.N. and on Taiwan participation in UN agencies, while stating clearly that nothing in law prevents the participation of Taiwan in international organizations.
The motion further condemned efforts made by PRC representatives to distort the meaning of the resolution as well as their alteration of historic documents.
Catherine West, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, said that UNGA Resolution 2758 should not be utilized to exclude Taiwan from meaningful engagement in global mechanisms, adding that the U.K. opposes any attempt to misinterpret the resolution, which is not in the interests of the people of Taiwan, the U.K. nor the world.
In response, the PO said the motion expressly refutes China’s distortion of the resolution and denounces Beijing’s attempts to restrict Taiwan’s global presence. It demonstrates the international community’s support of Taiwan’s democratic values, the office said, adding that the country will continue to work with other democracies to defend the core values of freedom, democracy and respect for human rights.
The current motion followed a similar resolution greenlighted by the IPAC during its annual meeting in July, and motions passed by the European Parliament and legislative branches in Australia, Canada, Guatemala and the Netherlands, according the MOFA. (YCH-E)
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