China skews U.N. resolution to justify aggression against Taiwan: Lai

Taipei, July 30 (CNA) The Chinese government misinterprets a United Nations resolution in order to justify its military aggression against Taiwan, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said Tuesday.

At the annual summit of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) in Taipei, Lai condemned Beijing for its inaccurate interpretation of U.N. Resolution 2758, including drawing an inappropriate linkage to its "One China" principle.

This move aims to not only "construct a legal basis for China's military aggression against Taiwan" but also to impede Taiwan's efforts to take part in international organizations, Lai said, without elaborating on how he reached that conclusion.

Beijing claims that the U.N. resolution "confirmed" its One China principle, which asserts there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is "an inalienable part of China."

The president's comments were followed by IPAC's adoption of a "model resolution" later the same day, according to which its members will seek to redress what they called China's "distortion" of the U.N. resolution by passing resolutions in their respective parliaments.

In its model resolution, IPAC expressed concern over "sustained efforts" by Chinese officials to distort the meaning of the resolution passed in 1971 by the U.N. General Assembly, which states that the People's Republic of China (PRC) is "the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations."

The cross-national parliamentarians' group asserted that the U.N. resolution "does not establish the One China Principle as a matter of international law" and "nothing in law prevents the participation of Taiwan in international organizations."

In addition, the group said the U.N. document had "no bearing on the sovereign choices of other countries with respect to their relationship with Taiwan" while voicing support for Taiwan's "meaningful participation" in U.N. agencies.

IPAC added that the resolution did not mention Taiwan, address its political status, or establish PRC sovereignty over Taiwan.

Tuesday's summit was attended by 49 members of legislatures from 23 countries and the European Parliament, all being IPAC members. The group has more than 250 members around the world, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.