Beijing warns US over independence signals to Taiwan

President Xi Jinping vowed to uphold world peace and defend the global order in a speech marking the 50th anniversary of China’s acceptance into the United Nations, even as his government is determined to block Taiwan from the global organisation.

In a speech delivered yesterday in Beijing, the Chinese leader extolled his country’s contributions to global development, peace and justice in the past five decades, argued for multilateralism under the authority of the UN and made swipes at the United States Government for its unilateral dominance.

‘‘International rules should be drawn up jointly by the UN’s 193 member states, rather than a few countries or a group of countries,’’ Xi said.

‘‘The rules should be obeyed jointly by the UN’s 193 member states. There is and should be no exception.

‘‘When the UN is concerned, all countries should be respectful, care about and safeguard this big family,’’ he said. ‘‘We cannot use it when it’s to one’s benefit but discard it when it’s not in one’s interest.’’

The speech comes at a time when the United States has been discussing with Taiwan how the self-governed island could ‘‘participate meaningfully’’ at the UN. Beijing staunchly opposes the move, as it already considers Taiwan to be part of Chinese territory and believes that it represents the island in the UN.

Xi made no direct mention of the island in his speech but called the People’s Republic of China’s acceptance into the United Nations in 1971 a ‘‘victory of the Chinese people and of the people of the world’’.

‘‘It was a result of the joint efforts by all the peace-loving and justice-upholding countries of the world,’’ Xi said.

Before 1971, the Republic of China – which was toppled in the mainland and whose government fled to Taiwan in 1949 – had been the official representative of China at the United Nations.

Taiwan has since established a democratically elected government, and its 23 million people have built a distinctively

Taiwanese identity. But, without a seat at the UN, Taiwan has hardly any voice in global governance.

Last week, officials from Washington and Taipei discussed plans that could allow Taiwan to ‘‘participate meaningfully’’ at the UN and in other international forums.

An editorial in the

a party-run newspaper on the mainland, called the move ‘‘an attempt to fundamentally challenge the one-China principle’’ and to challenge the UN’s Resolution 2758 from 1971, which replaced the Republic of China with the People’s Republic at the UN as the country’s legitimate representative.

‘‘Washington’s new move is very abrupt,’’ it read. ‘‘The US is challenging the common-sense perceptions of the international community while pretending to be earnest and unbiased. This is the ultimate shamelessness.’’

‘‘If the US really makes waves, it will lead to deep divisions in the UN and paralyse the execution power of the UN in many aspects,’’ the editorial read. ‘‘The US will become a historic sinner that further undermines world unity.’’

Xi vowed to uphold the UN-led order in his speech. ‘‘The 50 years since the new China had its lawful seat restored in the UN are the 50 years of China developing peacefully and benefiting mankind,’’ Xi said.

‘‘We must firmly safeguard the authority and the status of the UN and practice true multilateralism.’’

Separately, the Holy See, Taiwan’s only diplomatic ally in the West, has come under pressure from Beijing to sever its ties with Taipei, but the Vatican noted it had not yet sent envoys to China and could only maintain the status quo, according to a report in ,a major Italian newspaper.

Washington, which has no diplomatic ties with Taiwan, has been deepening its relations with the island as Beijing is ratcheting up military pressure on the island.

Beijing has never given up the use of force to seize the island, and Washington has a security pact with the island to deter any mainland invasion. Last week, US President Joe Biden said that his country was committed to defending the island.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said yesterday that Resolution 2758 in 1971 had ‘‘thoroughly solved the issue of representation of the People’s Republic of China at the UN, politically, legally and procedurally’’ and that all UN member states, the US included, must follow the ‘‘one China’’ principle on the matter of Taiwan.

Wang urged Washington to stop making irresponsible remarks and sending wrong signals to Taiwan’s secessionist forces.

‘‘The US should not allow the Taiwanese authority to expand the room for ‘Taiwan independence’,’’ Wang said.