Abstract: On October 1, 1949, the government of the People’ s Republic of China replaced the government of the Republic of China as the only legitimate government representing China. In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758, restoring all rights of the People’ s Republic of China in the United Nations and immediately expelling the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they had unlawfully occupied. Under the agenda “Restoration of the lawful rights of the People’ s Republic of China in the United Nations”, the General Assembly rejected the so-called “important question” proposal, abandoned the ”dual representations” proposal, and ultimately passed the Resolution 2758. It politically affirmed and consolidated the One-China principle, which holds that there is only one China in the world, Taiwan is a part of China, and the Government of the People’ s Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China, thus fundamentally negating all schemes violating the One-China principle and infringing China’ s territorial integrity, such as notions of ”two Chinas”, “one China, one Taiwan”, “undetermined status of Taiwan”, and ”Taiwan’ s representation in international organizations”. The adoption of Resolution 2758 demonstrates that the United Nations recognizes the Taiwan issue as China’ s internal affair, which should not be interfered with by the international community. In recent years, the U. S. has abetted pro-independence forces in Taiwan by frequently distorting Resolution 2758 and reviving the fallacy of the ”undetermined status of Taiwan”. Such actions reflect self-serving opportunism of the U.S. and betray its promise under international law. They not only have no legal basis, but also violate the principles and rules of international law such as pacta sunt servanda, and estoppel. Resolution 2758, as the authoritative resolution governing the functioning of the United Nations organization, carries legal binding force within the UN system. Combined with the UN Charter, the bilateral treaties on establishment of diplomatic relations between China and foreign countries, and the fundamental principles of international law, the Resolution 2758 and the One-China principle it embodies have established universal binding force on all members of the international community.

Keywords: UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 (XXVI), One-China Principle, UN Charter, Undetermined Status of Taiwan, Government Succession

Author: Dai Ruijun, research fellow, CASS Institute of International Law;

Source: 4 (2025) Chinese Review of International Law.