MOFA response to false claims regarding Taiwan in joint statement between PRC and Timor-Leste

July 30, 2024

Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on July 29. After the meeting, they issued the Joint Statement between the People's Republic of China and the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on Strengthening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The statement included malicious claims attempting to undermine Taiwan's sovereignty. It deliberately misrepresented United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 2758, erroneously linking it to China's so-called "one China principle," and incorrectly alleged that Taiwan was an inalienable part of China's territory. In the statement, Timor-Leste also expressed support for all efforts of China's government to realize "national reunification."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) solemnly condemns and refutes this deceitful rhetoric, which ignores the international status quo. MOFA reiterates that UNGA Resolution 2758 only addresses the issue of China's representation in the United Nations and never mentions Taiwan. The resolution does not identify Taiwan as part of the PRC-much less authorize the PRC to represent Taiwan in the United Nations. Indeed, the resolution has nothing to do with Taiwan. The Republic of China (Taiwan) is a sovereign and independent country. Neither the R.O.C. (Taiwan) nor the PRC is subordinate to the other. China's falsehoods regarding Taiwan do not change the fact that Taiwan is a sovereign nation.

MOFA urges the government of Timor-Leste not to yield to China's efforts aimed at diminishing Taiwan's sovereign status so as to avoid becoming an accomplice in China's expansionism. MOFA calls on the international community to take concrete action to oppose China's continued misrepresentation of UNGA Resolution 2758; to deter China's ambitions of establishing a legal pretext for future military aggression against Taiwan; and to jointly safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region.