November 29, 2024
Following a debate on November 28, the UK House of Commons unanimously passed a motion on the international status of Taiwan affirming that United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758 did not mention Taiwan or establish PRC sovereignty over Taiwan and was silent on the status of Taiwan in the UN. Responding to the motion on behalf of the UK government, Catherine West, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Indo-Pacific at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, stated that the United Kingdom was of the view that UNGA Resolution 2758 decided that only the People’s Republic of China should represent China at the UN, that it did not determine the status of Taiwan, and that it should not therefore be used to preclude Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN or the wider international system. She pointed out that the United Kingdom opposed any attempt to broaden the interpretation of the resolution to rewrite history, which she said would not be in the interests of the Taiwanese people, the United Kingdom, or the global community.
The passage of this motion by the UK parliament underscored its staunch support for Taiwan. Furthermore, through Ms. West’s comments, the UK government publicly expressed for the first time its position on UNGA Resolution 2758 and underlined Taiwan’s wrongful exclusion from important international cooperation and dialogue mechanisms. This marked a new milestone in Taiwan’s efforts to counter China’s distortion of the resolution. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) strongly affirms and sincerely appreciates the support of the United Kingdom.
The motion was introduced by Blair McDougall, a member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, and cosigned by 16 members of parliament from the Labour Party, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party, and other political parties, including British-Taiwanese All-Party Parliamentary Group Chair Sarah Champion and Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Cochair for the United Kingdom Iain Duncan Smith. It fully demonstrated the firm commitment of both governing and opposition parliamentarians in the United Kingdom to supporting Taiwan’s international status and participation.
The UK House of Commons was the fifth national parliament in the world—after Australia, the Netherlands, Guatemala, and Canada—to pass such a motion since IPAC adopted a model resolution on UNGA Resolution 2758 for its members’ reference at its annual summit in July. The European Parliament has also approved a similar measure. MOFA sincerely thanks all parties once again for their support.