Co-founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Luke de Pulford told reporters that countering Beijing’s interpretation of UN Resolution 2758 is only the first step, saying that governments should eschew the question of “who represents China” entirely and rethink their policies toward Taiwan. 

Earlier this month, De Pulford attended a discussion in Berlin on interpretations and implications of Resolution 2758 and spoke with CNA following the event. The resolution originally addressed the question of “who has the right to represent China.” 

IPAC analyzed statements concerning Resolution 2758 issued by China’s Foreign Ministry since 2024 and found that such statements were previously made primarily by the ministry in Beijing, but the proportion of statements has increasingly shifted to Chinese diplomatic missions and delegations overseas. The tone of the rhetoric, de Pulford said, has also become more defensive. 

At the same time, Beijing’s methods of applying pressure have also changed. De Pulford observed that in some economies more susceptible to pressure, China has placed less emphasis on persuading governments through arguments based on Resolution 2758 and international law, and has instead more directly demanded acceptance of Beijing’s one-China principle.

De Pulford believes the pushback from national parliaments around the world has made it more difficult for Beijing to promote its interpretation of Resolution 2758 at the state level. 

According to de Pulford, the resolution is only as relevant as it is to Taiwan today because Beijing has distorted its meaning and used it as a tool to prevent Taiwan from participating in international organizations. He said that countries should, at this point, rework their entire diplomatic approach toward Taiwan, rather than continue to frame it through this now 50-year-old dispute over who represents China.

De Pulford emphasized that Taiwan is now an economically influential country that produces important goods needed around the world and that maintaining stability in the Taiwan Strait is in the global interest. Taiwan therefore possesses a degree of leverage in its international relations and should make use of it to urge the international community to recognize it for what it is today, he said.