Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, has not been a charter member of the United Nations (UN) since 1971. Historically, the Republic of China joined the United Nations as a founding member and was one of five permanent members of the Security Council until the People's Republic of China took the Chinese seat in 1971.
In recent years, Taiwan has sought to participate in the UN System in different forms, either as an observer in specialized agencies or as a formal member. Despite support from diplomatic allies and the United States, Taiwan's participation in the UN System has largely been denied or limited due to pressure from China.
History
Following World War II, the Big Four victors (China, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States) became founding members of the United Nations. The China seat was held by the Republic of China led by Chiang Kai-shek. The United Nations Charter, drafted in 1944, was ratified by representatives of 50 countries on 26 June 1945.
China, in recognition of its long-standing fight against aggression, was accorded the honor of being the first to sign the UN Charter. President Franklin Roosevelt had acknowledged China's war effort in World War II and stated his desire to allow China to "play its proper role in maintaining peace and prosperity" in the world. Thus, despite opposition from other leaders, especially Winston Churchill, China became a permanent member of the Security Council from its creation in 1945. At the same time, control of the island of Taiwan, which was under Japanese colonial rule, was handed over to the Republic of China (ROC) on 25 October 1945.
In 1949, the ROC government retreated to Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China (PRC) was established on mainland China. While the United States supported the ROC's claim to be the sole legitimate government of China, the Soviet Union was ally of the PRC. To protest the exclusion of the PRC, Soviet representatives boycotted the UN from January to August 1950.
Initially, the PRC boycotted or withdrew from international organizations in which Taiwan maintained continuing membership, including the Universal Postal Union and the World Meteorological Organization. This policy led to it becoming isolated from international bodies.
Japan formally relinquished claims to the islands of Taiwan and Penghu in the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco, which left the political status of the island unclear. Neither the PRC nor the ROC were invited to participate in the treaty due to the legitimacy dispute.
Starting from 1950, nations friendly to the PRC, such as the People's Republic of Albania, moved an annual resolution in the General Assembly to expel the "representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" (an implicit reference to the ROC) and permit the PRC to represent China at the UN. Although blocked every year, support for the PRC steadily grew. Worried about the trend, the United States began in 1961 to put forth a motion that required not just a simple majority but a two-thirds margin to rule on the matter of representation. Following the Indonesian withdrawal from the United Nations in 1965, the PRC reduced its efforts to enter the UN, but it soon resumed the diplomatic push for membership. A number of former colonies joining the UN, as well as better relations with western countries following the Sino-Soviet split, allowed the PRC to gain enough support that a supermajority was not needed for a decision on its membership. Opposition against the PRC and support for the ROC continued until 1970 when for the first time, a majority, but short of the supermajority requirement, voted in favor of the PRC. Compromise proposals to allow both Beijing and Taipei to participate in the UN, were rejected by both sides on account of the One-China policy.
In a Security Council meeting on 9 February 1971, Somalia objected to the credentials of the representative of Republic of China as the representative occupying the United Nations seat for China, and ROC and the United States responded that the question of China's representation should not be dealt with in the Security Council.
On 25 October 1971, United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 (XXVI) was passed, recognizing the People's Republic of China as the sole "legitimate representative of China to the United Nations" and expelling the "representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" from the UN. This was one of seven resolutions considered on the matter in October, and one of the three which were voted on. The resolution that ended up passing was a narrow one, dealing with the representation of "China" but otherwise putting aside the issue of Taiwan.
Following the passing of the resolution, the PRC has steadily gained increasing international influence. It has used this to strengthen its position in the UN, pushing an interpretation of Resolution 2758 that sees it as an affirmation by the UN of the One China principle. The PRC further enhanced its diplomatic efforts to cement the One China principle in the UN following the end of martial law in Taiwan and the introduction of democratic reforms in the late 1980s and 1990s. In particular, rhetoric began to shift following the 2000 Taiwanese presidential election, when the Kuomintang (KMT) lost the presidency of Taiwan to the more independent-minded Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Over the years following Resolution 2758, the PRC gained membership in a total of 21 international organizations, while Taiwan went from having membership in 39 organizations to having membership in 10. The date of PRC membership and Taiwanese withdrawal, or the eventual form of dual membership, was largely dependent on case-by-case processes unique to each organization. The switch was the slowest in financial and development institutions. Taiwan continued to maintain a policy of refusing to join an organization in which the PRC was a member ("the Chinese and the bandits would not co-exist") until the late 1980s, when it began to accept the concept of dual membership. The first tentative instance of dual membership was when the PRC was admitted to Interpol in 1984. Taiwan ceased participation, but did not formally withdraw. Continued Taiwanese participation in Interpol is limited by strict conditions imposed by the PRC, including being referred to as "Taiwan, China" and being officially being part of the Chinese delegation with no voting rights. In 1986, when China joined the Asian Development Bank, Taiwan continued its membership under the title of "Taipei, China". This relatively late PRC membership was due to resistance from the United States and Japan, which had significant influence in ADB and did not want Taiwan to become fully isolated. While ADB is a multilateral financial institution, it is not part of the UN system, and had a charter based on economic concerns rather than political ones.
Taiwan increased efforts to join the World Health Organization (WHO) during the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. In 2003 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan cited the One China policy as a reason to deny a Taiwanese representative from entering the UN headquarters, the first time a UN Secretary-General had referred to that policy. In 2005 the WHO signed an agreement with the PRC under which the WHO would communicate with Taiwan only through the PRC.
In 2008, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon rejected a Taiwanese membership application.
The return of the KMT to power in Taiwan following the 2008 Taiwanese presidential election led to a rapproachment with China, and Taiwan began limited participation in some UN bodies, becoming an observer in the World Health Assembly and participating in an International Civil Aviation Organization triennial meeting.
In 2015, reports began to emerge of Taiwanese citizens being denied entry into UN buildings using an ROC passport, with incidents possibly going back to 2009. The 2016 Taiwanese presidential election brought the DPP back to power, and continued Taiwanese participation in UN bodies became contingent on Taiwan explicitly accepting the One China principle.
In July 2023, the United States House of Representatives passed the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which sought to clarify that Resolution 2758 did not make any statements pertaining to Taiwan's sovereignty. In 2024, the Australian Senate and the Dutch House of Representatives passed motions clarifying the resolution in a similar manner.
As of June 2024, Taiwan's official policy position was that Resolution 2758 did not discuss Taiwan, and "the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty or representation at the UN was beyond the resolution’s purview."
In 2024, a Taiwanese man living in China was sentenced to nine years in prison for having previously supported Taiwan's inclusion at the UN, a crime under Chinese laws introduced that same year.
Membership bids In 1993, the ROC began campaigning to rejoin the UN. A number of options were considered, including seeking membership in the specialized agencies, applying for observer status, applying for full membership, or having resolution 2758 revoked to reclaim the seat of China in the UN.
Every year from 1993 to 2006, UN member states submitted a memorandum to the UN Secretary-General requesting that the UN General Assembly consider allowing the ROC to resume participating in the United Nations.; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; This approach was chosen, rather than a formal application for membership, because it could be enacted by the General Assembly, while a membership application would need Security Council approval, where the PRC held a veto. Early proposals recommended admitting the ROC with parallel representation over China, along with the People's Republic of China, pending eventual reunification, citing examples of other divided countries which had become separate UN member states, such as East and West Germany and North and South Korea. Later proposals emphasized that the ROC was a separate state, over which the PRC had no effective sovereignty. These proposed resolutions referred to the ROC under a variety of names: "Republic of China in Taiwan" (1993–94), "Republic of China on Taiwan" (1995–97, 1999–2002), "Republic of China" (1998), "Republic of China (Taiwan)" (2003) and "Taiwan" (2004–06).
However, all fourteen attempts were unsuccessful as the General Assembly's General Committee declined to put the issue on the Assembly's agenda for debate, under strong opposition from the PRC.
While all these proposals were vague, requesting the ROC be allowed to participate in UN activities without specifying any legal mechanism, in 2007 the ROC submitted a formal application under the name "Taiwan" for full membership in the UN. On 15 September 2007, over 3,000 Taiwanese Americans and their supporters rallied in front of the UN building in New York City,New York rally for United Nations bid draws record numbers , The China Post, September 17, 2007 and over 300,000 Taiwanese people rallied in Taiwan,https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070915/ts_afp/taiwanpoliticsunreferendum all in support of Taiwan joining the UN. Taiwan also won the backing of many Members of the European Parliament on this issue. However, the application was rejected by the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs citing General Assembly Resolution 2758, without being forwarded to the Security Council. Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon stated that: