SA can’t give Taiwan diplomatic status – expert

Amid fresh assertions by Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te that China has misrepresented the UN General Assembly (Unga) resolution 2758 to restrict Taiwan from international participation, a University of SA (Unisa) professor emeritus of international law ruled out any possibility of South Africa granting diplomatic status to Taiwan.

While Taiwan was free to trade with other countries, Unisa Prof André Thomashausen said SA’s Brics’ (the fast-growing, emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) commitments “close any room for a resumption of separate diplomatic or other state-to-state interaction between SA and Taiwan”.

Lai has maintained that mainland China had misinterpreted the resolution to “restrict Taiwan’s international participation and to construct a basis for the use of force against Taiwan” – a stance condemned by China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian.

‘Question of representation already settled’

Arguing that there was “one-China with Taiwan an inalienable part of China’s territory”, Lin said the Unga resolution “settled once and for all the question of the representation of the whole of China, including Taiwan, in the United Nations”.

“I would like to stress again that the one-China principle is unshakable and the trend of China realising reunification is unstoppable.

“The Taiwan ‘independence’ separatism is a dead end.

“Whatever the Lai Ching-te authorities say or do, it does not change the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China, or the legal status of the Unga resolution 2758.

“China will and must achieve reunification,” said Lin.

The resolution made it clear about one-China in the world and Taiwan being part of China – not a country.

“It also made clear that there is only one seat for China in the United Nations, with representatives of the government of the People’s Republic of China the only lawful voice at the UN.

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“The one-China principle is observed by the UN and its specialised agencies on the Taiwan question.

“Taiwan is referred to as the ‘Taiwan province of China’ in all UN official documents.” Thomashausen said:

“Taiwan, being strongly developed and the industrialised part of China, has always been able to maintain its own trading and investment relations with a large number of countries, including SA. There is no reason for that to change as trade and investments are private sector relations.

“Eswatini’s continuing full diplomatic relations with Taiwan are an anomaly in the Southern Africa Development Community and will not be encouraged by South Africa,” he added.

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Concurring with Lin, Thomashausen said the Unga resolution of 1971 marked “the end of the legal secession dispute in China”.

“By this resolution, Taiwan lost its seat in the United Nations, including its veto power seat in the UN Security Council, to the People’s Republic of China.

“Taiwan has failed to pass this test, while South Sudan managed to pass the effectiveness threshold.”