New york: Nine of Taiwan's diplomatic allies have called on the United Nations to remain neutral and resist Beijing's political influence on Taiwan. In a joint letter issued ahead of the 80th U.N. General Assembly debate, the allies urged the U.N. to not succumb to the distortions of Resolution 2758.

According to Focus Taiwan, the letter was addressed to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and signed by the permanent representatives of Belize, Eswatini, Guatemala, the Marshall Islands, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Tuvalu. The signatories stressed that Resolution 2758 has been misrepresented in a manner that jeopardizes peace in the Taiwan Strait and the broader Indo-Pacific region. They clarified that the resolution does not exclude Taiwan from U.N. participation and should not be used to bar Taiwanese individuals and media from U.N. events and meetings.

The diplomats emphasized that the resolution, adopted in 1971, pertains solely to China's representation in the United Nations and does not address Taiwan's participation in the U.N. system. They urged the U.N. to cease using the resolution as a basis for blocking Taiwanese access to U.N. venues, describing such actions as unjustified and discriminatory.

Resolution 2758 recognized the People's Republic of China as "the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations" and resulted in the expulsion of "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek." However, it notably omits any reference to "Taiwan," a fact that Beijing has leveraged to justify Taiwan's exclusion from U.N. entities.

In a display of solidarity, ambassadors from six of the allied nations personally delivered the letter to U.N. headquarters in New York. Palau's envoy, Ilana Victorya Seid, conveyed the letter to U.N. Under-Secretary-General Guy Ryder, who will forward it to Secretary-General Guterres.

Seid stated, "As allies of Taiwan, we have always said that we feel that there is a mischaracterization of the resolution," while Tuvalu's envoy, Tapugao Falefou, remarked that interpreting the resolution as excluding Taiwan is "very wrong."

Lee Chih-chiang, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York, expressed gratitude for the allies' efforts and urged the U.N. to seek meaningful avenues for Taiwan's participation in the international organization.