Washington whistling in the dark trying to open a new front in UN: China Daily editorial

The statement US Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued on Tuesday in support of Taiwan's participation in the UN system is the latest challenge to the one-China principle that the Joe Biden administration claims the United States respects.

It is also a challenge to the integrity of the United Nations as Taiwan's participation would invalidate Resolution 2758 which the United Nations General Assembly adopted with an overwhelming majority on Oct 25, 1971.

The timing of the issuance of the statement, one day after the 50th anniversary of the passing of the resolution which recognized the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of China, once again highlights that the US will go to any lengths in its so-called competition with China.

The UN is not a personal club of the US. The call for Taiwan's participation in the world body is simply more grist for the mill in Washington's attempts to provoke Beijing.

It is intended to succor the secessionists on the island on the one hand, and to irritate Beijing on the other, seemingly in the hope that it will provoke a response from Beijing that would rally international support for the island and thus by default Washington's geostrategic designs.

But to meet these ends, the US government has exposed its true colors. Despite its carefully worded statement, it has revealed to the world the extent to which it is willing to tear things apart to maintain its sense of superiority, no matter what the cost to others.

And let's be clear. No matter how far the island has gone in exercising the so-called democracy the US would like to identify itself with, no matter how indispensable the island has become in the global supply chains, and no matter how important it has become as a logistics hub, that does not entitle the island to independent participation in the UN system.

Resolution 2758 is unequivocal on that. Despite the attempts of Washington and the island's ruling Democratic Progressive Party to pretend otherwise.

And despite any claims to the contrary, as an inalienable part of China, the island's rights and interests, ranging from public health to international cooperation for common development, are well-protected in the UN system by Beijing.

Although the US government keeps reiterating that it upholds the one-China policy, what it is doing is trying to parallel Taiwan with China as an "independent state". In so doing, it is trying to create the impression that there is one China, plus Taiwan. It is a word game played in the hope that it will not have to put too many eggs in one basket.

To reunify the island with the motherland is only a matter of time. In what way that plays out depends on the choices of stakeholders of the island, and what the costs will be depend on how far the US is willing to go to sustain the delusions of the island's secessionists.