A file photo of Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. /CFP

The Chinese mainland has criticized the recent attempts by the Taiwan region's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities and some Western countries to misinterpret the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758 that fully reflects the one-China principle.

Chen Binhua, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said the DPP authorities and certain Western countries maliciously distort UNGA Resolution 2758 and falsely claim that "the resolution is unrelated to Taiwan" and exploit "representation of China at the UN" to create their own narrative.

They distort the facts, violate international law, and openly challenge the international order and rules with the aim to create momentum for "Taiwan independence," undermining the consensus of the international community that supports the one-China principle, said Chen, according to the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council on Tuesday.

Chen explained why Taiwan is part of China from the perspectives of historical facts, the consultation process of UNGA Resolution 2758 and practices by the international community.

Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times

Chen said that from the perspective of historical facts, Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times. The earliest references to this effect are to be found, among others, in the Seaboard Geographic Gazetteer compiled in the year 230 during the Three Kingdoms Period. The royal court of the Sui Dynasty had on three occasions sent troops to Taiwan. Starting from the Song and Yuan dynasties, the imperial central governments of China all set up administrative bodies to exercise jurisdiction over Penghu and Taiwan. The Qing court set up a Taiwan prefecture administration in 1684. In 1885, Taiwan's status was upgraded, and it became the 20th province of China.

In 1894, Japan launched a war of aggression against China. In 1895, the defeated Qing government was forced to cede Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan. The Cairo Declaration in 1943, the Potsdam Proclamation in 1945 and the Instrument of Surrender signed by Japan in the same year proved that China had recovered Taiwan de jure and de facto. On October 25, 1945, Chief Executive of Taiwan Province Chen Yi announced the recovery of Taiwan in Taipei. "From this day forward, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands are officially reintegrated into the territory of China. All land, people, and political matters are now under Chinese sovereignty," he said.

In 1949, the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded, replacing the government of the Republic of China and becoming the only legitimate government of the whole of China.

The new government replaced the previous KMT regime in a situation where China, as a subject under international law, did not change and China's sovereignty and inherent territory did not change. As a natural result, the government of the PRC should enjoy and exercise China's full sovereignty, which includes its sovereignty over Taiwan. The Chiang Kai-shek regime retreated to Taiwan after its defeat in the civil war and confronted the central government under the name of the so-called Republic of China, and the two sides of the Taiwan Straits have fallen into a state of protracted political confrontation.

"The Taiwan question is one that is left over by the Chinese civil war, and China's sovereignty over Taiwan has never changed," said Chen Binhua.

No such thing as 'two Chinas' or 'one China, one Taiwan'

At its 26th session in October 1971, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758.

From the perspective of the consultation process of UNGA Resolution 2758, the UNGA overwhelmingly rejected two proposals related to Taiwan, the "Two Chinas representation proposal" and the "one China, one Taiwan and Taiwan self-determination proposal," before it adopted Resolution 2758, said Chen, the spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

This means that the United Nations restored the representation and seat of the whole of China, Taiwan included, to the PRC government under the premise that it recognizes Taiwan is part of China and that the territorial scope of China, as a subject under international law, has not been affected, and the status of Taiwan as part of China has never changed, he said.

UNGA Resolution 2758 is a reflection of the UN Charter and purposes, and it clearly and fairly settled once and for all the political, legal and procedural issues of China's representation in the UN. It also spelled out that China has one single seat in the UN, so there is no such thing as "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan."

China's representation in the UN is naturally the representation of the whole of China, including Taiwan, said Chen.

One-China principle is a universal consensus

From the perspective of practices by the international community, at the UN, Taiwan is referred to as "Taiwan, Province of China." It was stressed in the official legal opinions of the Office of Legal Affairs of the UN Secretariat that "the United Nations considers 'Taiwan' as a province of China with no separate status." Over the years, the UN and its specialized agencies have followed the one-China principle in handling issues related to Taiwan.

Under the premise of the one-China principle, China has established diplomatic relations with 183 countries. The establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States was also based on the one-China principle. In the three Sino-U.S. Joint Communiques, the U.S. recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and acknowledges that there is but one China, and Taiwan is part of China.

This fully shows that the one-China principle is a prevailing consensus in the international community and a basic norm governing international relations, said Chen. "It is also where global opinion trends and the arc of history bend."