Taiwan has no right to join United Nations – China tackles US after it suggested that Taiwan be admitted into the UN

China has stated that Taiwan has no right to join the United Nations, after the United States made a call for the democratic island to have greater involvement in the world body.

In a statement marking 50 years since the UN General Assembly voted to seat Beijing and boot out Taipei, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday October 26, he regretted that Taiwan had been increasingly excluded on the world stage.

“As the international community faces an unprecedented number of complex and global issues, it is critical for all stakeholders to help address these problems. This includes the 24 million people who live in Taiwan,” Blinken said.

“Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN system is not a political issue, but a pragmatic one,” he said.

“That is why we encourage all UN member states to join us in supporting Taiwan’s robust, meaningful participation throughout the UN system and in the international community.”

“Taiwan has become a democratic success story,” Blinken said. “We are among the many UN member states who view Taiwan as a valued partner and trusted friend.”

Blinken pointed to Taiwan’s exclusion from meetings associated with the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Health Organization.

He noted that Taiwan was hailed for its “world-class” response to Covid-19 — which largely spared the island after early intervention — and that tens of millions of passengers go through Taiwanese airports each year.

China considers Taiwan where nationalist forces fled to in 1949 after losing a civil war to the communists, to be a province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

Chima responded to Blinken’s statement, emphasising its position that Taiwan’s government had no place on the global diplomatic stage.

“Taiwan has no right to join the United Nations,” Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, told reporters.

“The United Nations is an international governmental organisation composed of sovereign states… Taiwan is a part of China.”

The latest statement adds to an escalation of diplomatic rhetoric and military posturing over Taiwan.

US President Joe Biden last week told a televised forum that the United States was ready to defend Taiwan from any Chinese invasion.