China’s president Xi Jinping marked the country’s 50 years of membership in the UN with a speech calling for greater global cooperation.
China was a founding member of the UN but was blocked by the US from taking up its seat until 1971.
Mr Xi repeated calls for global cooperation at the UN, adding that issues like terrorism, climate change and cyber security required multilateral solutions… He did not mention Taiwan.
Taiwan lost its seat at the UN after China – a permanent member of the UN Security Council – joined the organisation in 1971.
China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province, while Taiwan claims to be a free and independent country.
However, China’s One China policy asserts that there is only one sovereign Chinese government, and that Taiwan is an inseparable part of the country that is to be reunified one day with the mainland.
Mr Xi said that the decision to ” recognise the representatives of the government of the People’s Republic of China as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations … was a victory for the Chinese people and a victory for people of the world”.
