On August 31, the famous Icelandic newspaper Fréttablaðið carried an article by Ambassador He Rulong entitled "Taiwan Has Always Been Part of China".
The full text is as follows:
In disregard of China's strong opposition and serious representations, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited China's Taiwan region, triggering a new round of tensions across the Taiwan Strait and throwing the Taiwan question into global spotlight once again. Recently, I have noted that Icelandic media carried some articles on Taiwan, and some of my Icelandic friends had also asked me about my views on the Taiwan question at various events. I therefore feel the need to write this piece to shed some lights on the question of Taiwan with the hope that my Icelandic friends will understand this question in a more objective and comprehensive way.
First, Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times.
The earliest record of Taiwan is found in Seaboard Geographic Gazetteer compiled in the year 230 by Shen Ying of the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280). Starting from the Song (960-1279) and Yuan (1270-1368) dynasties, the imperial central governments of China all set up administrative bodies to exercise jurisdiction over Penghu and Taiwan. In 1895, Japan launched a war of aggression against China and began its colonization over Taiwan. After the end of World War II, China regained Taiwan both in law and in fact: in 1943, the governments of China, the United States, the United Kingdom issued the Cairo Declaration. In 1945, China, the United States, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union signed the Potsdam Proclamation, and also in 1945, Japan signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender. All of these documents stated that all the territories Japan had stolen from China, such as Northeast China, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, should be restored to China. On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded, replacing the Republic of China, and the Central People's Government became the only legal government representing the whole of China. As a result of the civil war in China between 1945 and 1949 and the interference of external forces, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have fallen into a state of prolonged political antagonism, but Taiwan's status as part of China's territory has never changed. As an Icelandic friend said on Vísindavefnum, "Both the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang agree that Taiwan is a province of China, and the debate is actually about which regime has the right to rule China as a whole".
Second, the one-China principle has been widely recognized by the international community.
At its 26th session in October 1971, thanks to the support of most countries including Iceland, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 which spelled out that China has one single seat in the UN, and there is no such thing as "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan". At the UN, Taiwan is referred to as "Taiwan, Province of China". On August 3, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres once again reiterated that the UN's position on the Taiwan question is very clear: The UN abides by Resolution 2758 on the one-China principle adopted in 1971. One principle governing PRC's establishment of diplomatic relations with a foreign country is that it recognizes the government of the PRC as the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and severs or refrains from establishing diplomatic relations with the Taiwan authorities. At present, 181 countries including Iceland have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle. The Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between China and Iceland also clearly stipulates the one-China principle. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland recently reiterated that "Like the vast majority of countries in the world, Iceland has recognized one and undivided China." (Eins og langflest ríki heims hefur Ísland viðurkennt eitt og óskipt Kína.)
Third, who is the real "saboteur of peace" in the Taiwan Strait?
Since the Democratic Progressive Party came to power in 2016, it has continued to promote "incremental independence", push forward "de-sinicization", and sought every means to create "two Chinas" and "one China, one Taiwan" on various occasions. The United States claims to follow its one-China policy and does not support the "independence of Taiwan". But some forces in the United States run counter to the one-China policy in their actual deeds, blatantly insert the so-called "Taiwan Relations Act" and the "Six Assurances" unilaterally concocted by the US side into the statement of the one-China policy of the United States, and constantly distort, obscure and hollow out the one-China principle. China has always been opposed to this. The witness of the development of US-China Relations, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said, "it's essential that the principle of one China be maintained, and the US should not by subterfuge or a gradual process develop something of a two-China solution". Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating said, "A visit by Pelosi would be unprecedented—foolish, dangerous and unnecessary". However, on 2 August, in disregard of China's strong opposition and serious representations, Nancy Pelosi visited China's Taiwan region, which seriously violates the commitments made by the US side and infringes upon China's sovereignty. China could not sit idly by and watch, and was forced to take necessary countermeasures.
An Icelander who once lived in China wrote in his article with Fréttablaðið, "during years of living in China, I have met so many Chinese with different views on various issues, but nothing unites the Chinese people more than the Taiwan question". A relative of mine who is over 70 years old told me that he is willing to go to the battlefield if there is a fight for the reunification of the motherland. This reflects a shared commitment of the 1.4 billion Chinese people in resolutely safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pelosi's visit to Taiwan actually served to get the Chinese people more united and determined to realize the reunification of the motherland. A reunited China will bring more opportunities for development to all countries and will create more positive momentum for prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific and the wider world.
Should you be interested in the historical ins and outs of the Taiwan question and China's basic policies, please refer to the white paper entitled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era" published by the Chinese government on August 10.
(http://is.china-embassy.gov.cn)
He Rulong
Chinese Ambassador to Iceland