Chinese Ambassador to PNG Yang Xiaoguang Contributes an Article to PNG’s Media Entitled “It is a Historical Conclusion that Taiwan Belongs to China”

On 17 October, 2025, H.E. Yang Xiaoguang, Chinese Ambassador to PNG contributed an article to PNG's two mainstream media The National and Post-Courier entitled "It Is A Historical Conclusion that Taiwan Belongs to China". The full text is as follows:

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. It also marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations (UN), as well as the 80th anniversary of the Taiwan's restoration to China. Taiwan's restoration to China is a victorious outcome of World War II and an integral part of the postwar international order. Recently, the United States and a small number of countries have once again distorted and challenged UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, hyping up the false argument that "the status of Taiwan has yet to be determined". Such acts blatantly challenge the authority of the United Nations and the postwar international order, and are utterly absurd and dangerous. I would like to share the basic facts about the Taiwan question to clarify misinformation.

1、Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times. This statement has a sound basis in history.

Taiwan's indigenous people are descendants of the ancient Bai-Yue lineage who migrated from Chinese mainland 30,000 years ago. The earliest written accounts of Taiwan in Chinese history date back over 1,700 years. Since around 700 years ago, the successive imperial governments of China all set up administrative bodies to exercise jurisdiction over Taiwan. In 1684, a Taiwan prefecture administration was set up under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province by the then Qing Dynasty government. In 1885, Taiwan's status was upgraded and it became the 20th province of China.

In July 1894, Japan launched a war of aggression against China. In April 1895, the defeated Qing government was forced to cede Taiwan to Japan. In September 1945, the Chinese people, after a bloody struggle, achieved victory in the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. In October of the same year, China announced the resumption of the exercise of sovereignty over Taiwan. After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the then "Republic of China" government under the KMT Party recklessly launched the civil war but was ultimately defeated and retreated to Taiwan.

On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded, becoming the successor to the "Republic of China" (1912-1949), and the Central People's Government of PRC became the only legitimate government of the whole of China. The new government replaced the previous KMT regime led by Chiang Kai-shek in a situation where China, as a subject under international law. As a natural result, the government of the PRC should enjoy and exercise China's full sovereignty, which includes its sovereignty over Taiwan.

In January 1950, then US President Harry Truman issued a statement reaffirming the provisions of the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation regarding the return of Taiwan to China. Then US Secretary of State Dean Acheson also stated, "When Taiwan was made a province of China nobody raised any lawyer's doubts about that. That was regarded as in accordance with the commitments." However, after the outbreak of the Korean War later that year, the United States, in its pursuit of isolating and containing China, began to grossly interfere in the Taiwan question and propagated the fallacy of the so-called "undetermined status of Taiwan."

As a result of the civil war in China in the late 1940s and the interference of external forces, the two sides of the Taiwan Straits have fallen into a state of protracted political confrontation. But the sovereignty and territory of China have never been divided and will never be divided, and Taiwan's status as part of China's territory has never changed and will never be allowed to change.

2、UNGA Resolution 2758 solemnly confirms and fully embodies the one-China principle.

On October 25, 1971, at the 26th session of the UN General Assembly, Resolution 2758 was adopted with an overwhelming majority, which "decides to restore all its rights to the People's Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the UN, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place where they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it." The resolution resolved once and for all the question of the representation of the whole of China, including Taiwan, in the UN, as a political, legal and procedural issue. The resolution brooks no challenge to its legitimacy, validity, and authority.

The core meaning of the one-China principle includes three aspects: there is but one China in the world, the Taiwan region is an inalienable part of China's territory, and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. The one-China principle is the premise and foundation for UNGA Resolution 2758, while the resolution solemnly confirms and fully embodies the one-China principle. The resolution makes it clear that there is but one China in the world and the Government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate representative of the whole of China, including the Taiwan region. There is no such thing as "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan."

UNGA Resolution 2758 carries extensive and authoritative legal force, and serves as the authoritative basis for the UN and organizations related to it to properly handle the Taiwan question. After the adoption of UNGA Resolution 2758, all official UN documents referred to Taiwan as "Taiwan, Province of China." It was clearly stated in the official legal opinions of the Office of Legal Affairs of the UN Secretariat that "the United Nations considers 'Taiwan' as a province of China with no separate status" and the "'authorities' in 'Taipei' are not considered to ... enjoy any form of government status." This has been the consistent position of the UN and is clearly documented.

The adoption of Resolution 2758 had a wide-reaching and profound political impact on the practice of international relations. It effectively made the one-China principle a basic norm of international relations and a prevailing consensus in the international community. To date, 183 countries have established and developed diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle.

3、To challenge UNGA Resolution 2758 is to challenge the post-World War II international order and the authority of the UN, and is doomed to fail.

Resolution 2758 clearly states that "recalling the principles of the Charter of the United Nations," "the restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China is essential both for the protection of the Charter of the United Nations and for the cause that the United Nations must serve under the Charter." This reflects the resolution's clear position on upholding the authority of the United Nations. The United Nations is at the center of the post-World War II international order. The restoration of the People's Republic of China's lawful seat in the UN marked the return of the Chinese people, or one-fourth of the world's population, to the stage of the UN. This is of great, far-reaching significance both to China and the world. Any attempt to challenge Resolution 2758 constitutes not only a challenge to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, but also a challenge to the authority of the UN as well as the post-World War II international order. Flagrantly reversing the course of history is absurd and highly dangerous.

Taiwan has never been an independent country, not in the past, not at present and still less in the future. The question of Taiwan's status was fundamentally resolved in 1945, when the Chinese people won the great victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression. This victory was won by the Chinese people including our Taiwan compatriots through hard-fought battles and great sacrifices. It shall by no means be undermined by the false narratives of some Western politicians.

4、Firmly adherence to the one-China principle is the political foundation of China-PNG relations.

The one-China principle is a prevailing consensus among the international community, a basic norm in international relations, and the premise for the establishment and development of diplomatic relations between China and other countries. It is a red line that must not be crossed. On 12 October 1976, based on one-China principle, China and PNG established diplomatic relations. The Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and PNG, which was signed by then Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare in Beijing states that the two Governments have agreed to develop diplomatic relations, friendship and cooperation on the basis of the principles of mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful co-existence.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, all successive PNG Governments have adhered to the one-China principle. In 2023, PNG Government closed "PNG Trade Office in Taiwan". In October, 2023, during Prime Minister Hon. James Marape's visit to China, our two countries issued a joint statement in which PNG reaffirms its longstanding traditional commitment to the one-China policy, and that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory, that PNG opposes "Taiwan independence" and that it supports all efforts made by the Government of the People's Republic of China to realize reunification.

In recent years, on the basis of one-China principle, China and PNG have enjoyed frequent high-level exchanges, deepening practical cooperation and close people-to-people exchanges, bringing tangible benefits to the people of PNG. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and PNG. China highly appreciates the PNG government's consistent and firm adherence to the one-China principle. We stands ready to work with PNG to continue to firmly support each other on issues concerning core interests and major concerns, resolutely support each other in safeguarding sovereignty and territorial integrity, jointly defend the post-World War II international order and the authority of the United Nations, and promote the steady and long-term development of the China-PNG comprehensive strategic partnership.