US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued a statement on Tuesday which expressed US support for the island of Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations (UN) system. This is a gross escalation of efforts by the US to undermine the one-China principle and separate the island from China’s sovereignty.
In his statement, Blinken touted that, “Taiwan has become a democratic success story” and its values “align with those of the UN.” He also questioned why Taiwan, which has advanced aviation and public health, was not represented at the International Civil Aviation Organization and World Health Assembly (WHA). He quibbled that, “Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN system is not a political issue, but a pragmatic one.”
The current US administration is opening up a new battlefield to attack China. It is amazing that they can act like this while hypocritically advocating their adherence to the one-China policy and adding completely opposite conditions such as the Taiwan Relations Act and the “Six Assurances” to what the US calls “one China”. They are playing rogue politics in broad daylight.
Blinken labeled the island as “democratic” in order to assert the legitimacy of dividing China’s sovereignty in a “democratic” way. He seeks to create the heresy that the UN needs to cooperate with such secessionist moves. He naively believes that US’ “values diplomacy” will be able to whitewash this vicious secession into a just cause. He overestimates the coercive strength of American soft power.
The US is trying to create “one China” and “one Taiwan” in the UN and turn such a trick into a long-term bargaining chip to pressure Beijing. This is a new offensive against China. The world can see this, and Blinken’s rhetoric will not deceive the international community. Taiwan’s practical communication with UN agencies on civil aviation and public health matters has never been an obstacle. What the US wants now is exactly a political breakthrough. They think the whole world is stupid!
Taiwan authorities must accept the one-China principle. Only through an arrangement on this basis can the island participate in international organizations. Before the current Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority, the Kuomintang authority recognized one China, and a consensus was reached across the Taiwan Straits on issues including Taiwan’s participation in the WHA. Since then, the DPP authority has abandoned the 1992 Consensus, and there is no longer “one China” in its policy declarations. Instead, all it repeatedly emphasizes is Taiwan’s “independent sovereignty.” Taiwan’s participation in the WHA is no longer pragmatic. It has become a political sprint to declare “Taiwan’s sovereignty” to the world.
By igniting a “new UN fire” in the conflicts with China, the US has once again proven that it is playing with words when it claims not to allow the competition with China to become a confrontation. Washington has stabbed Beijing in the heart of its concerns. It is trying to create a strategic initiative that will cause pain to the latter.
Yet China will never back down an inch regarding the Taiwan question. The US treachery will never gain the support or be echoed by the majority of countries in the world. The UN is not run by the US. And the UN Charter is written down in black and white, so the US can’t lead the global community to misinterpret it. Washington and the island of Taiwan will not succeed in realizing their conspiracy. They will continue to fail and humiliate themselves repeatedly.
If the US wants to fight, China will battle back. Evil will not suppress good in the UN. Nor will it ever try to disguise itself as good. The next battle in the UN will teach the US a lesson of “international justice.”
