Mogadishu (AX) — A dispute over Taiwan’s international status and the meaning of a key 1971 United Nations resolution has intensified, with China’s embassy in Somalia rejecting arguments from Taiwan’s representative office in North Western State of Somalia.
In a statement released Saturday, the embassy responded to claims from Taiwan’s Hargeisa office that Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other and that UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 makes no explicit reference to Taiwan.
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The Chinese Embassy reaffirmed Beijing’s position that there is “but one China” and that Taiwan forms part of Chinese territory. It cited the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation as historical and legal support for that stance.
Beijing further said the one-China principle provided the political basis for Resolution 2758, which the UN General Assembly adopted on Oct. 25, 1971.
The resolution restored the People’s Republic of China’s rights at the United Nations, recognized its government’s representatives as “the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations” and removed the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek.
Although the text does not specifically mention “Taiwan,” Taiwan has pointed to that omission in challenging Beijing’s interpretation. China maintains instead that the resolution settled the question of China’s representation at the UN and rules out any separate international representation for Taiwan.
“The one-China principle is the premise and political foundation for UNGA Resolution 2758,” the embassy said, adding that the measure made clear there could be neither “two Chinas” nor “one China, one Taiwan.”
The embassy also said UN documents issued after the resolution’s adoption identified Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China.”
Taiwan has its own government, military and democratic political system and formally uses the name Republic of China. Beijing regards the island as part of China and has consistently opposed Taiwan’s attempts to establish official diplomatic ties or take part independently in international organizations.
Taiwan and North Western State of Somalia opened representative offices in each other’s capitals in 2020, expanding cooperation in fields such as health, agriculture, technology and education. Taiwan’s foreign ministry still identifies its Hargeisa mission as the “Taiwan Representative Office in the Republic of North Western State of Somalia.”
The embassy’s latest statement followed criticism issued three days earlier against North Western State of Somalia President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdillahi Irro over comments about Taiwan during a US visit. Beijing said the remarks breached the one-China principle and again expressed support for Somalia’s territorial integrity.
China recognizes Somalia’s sovereignty over North Western State of Somalia, which has governed itself since declaring independence from Somalia in 1991.
