The world has seen UN Security Council member Russia, which is responsible for maintaining “international peace and security,” become one the world’s biggest threats. And yet the United Nations was established in the wake of World War II to ensure that “never again” would the world experience the destruction of the two world wars.
Changing the UN Security Council has only one precedent: that was the replacement of the Republic of China (ROC), or Taiwan, in 1971, by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Raymond Sung, Deputy CEO of think tank Taiwan New Constitution Foundation, and Peter Chase, a Senior Fellow with the German Marshall Fund in Brussels, discuss the implications of Russia’s violations of the Charter for the UN, what options lie open for UN Security Council reform, and whether Taiwan could ever regain a seat at the international body.
We also speak to the Czech Republic’s Senate Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security Committee Chair Pavel Fischer who ran for president in 2018 and was formerly Czech Ambassador to France and Monaco.
Topics discussed:
- PRC’s refusal to denounce Russia’s invasion of Ukraine’s sovereign territory
- Previous UNHCR vote to remove Russia
- Russian support of India’s bid to join UN Security Council
- U.S. support of Japan’s Security Council bid
- Could Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan impact China’s future on the Security Council?
- Did world respond inadequately in 2019 with Hong Kong?
- Sergey Lavrov’s speech to the UN General Assembly saying the US is “threatening the entire world order”
- Could China behave in the same way as Russia?
- In 1971, PRC’s mission to bring motion resulting in Resolution 2758 to replace Taiwan
- Wording of UN Resolution 2758 referring to “representatives of Chiang Kai-shek” to be removed from the UN
- Why symbolism is more important for Taiwan than for other nations around the world
- Errors in international media relating to Taiwan’s history:
1) BBC’s website saying Taiwan was ruled by China’s Qing Dynasty from the 17th century
2) Channel 4 saying China has ruled Taiwan for most of 2000 years.
3) The South China Morning Post saying: “Taiwan and China were separated in 1949” when the KMT lost the Chinese Civil War and retreated to Taiwan.”
- Impact of these narratives on Taiwan’s position globally
- Reasons for mistakes and their implications
- Is Taiwan losing the information war
25:45
24:27
26:29
23:40
24:46
26:17
25:37
24:47
23:31
25:47
24:11
26:02
26:31
25:31
26:47
24:41