Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland House Bill HJ7 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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5	5	HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 7
6	6	P1 5lr2834
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8	8	By: Delegates Szeliga and Nawrocki
9	9	Introduced and read first time: February 7, 2025
10	10	Assigned to: Rules and Executive Nominations
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12	12	HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
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14	14	A House Joint Resolution concerning 1
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16	16	Opposition to the People’s Republic of China’s Misuse of United Nations 2
17	17	Resolution 2758 to Delegitimize Taiwan 3
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19	19	FOR the purpose of opposing the People’s Republic of China’s misuse of United Nations 4
20	20	Resolution 2758 to delegitimize Taiwan; and generally relating to support of Taiwan. 5
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22	22	WHEREAS, The Republic of China (Taiwan) was one of the 51 original member 6
23	23	states of the United Nations (UN) at its inception in 1945; and 7
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25	25	WHEREAS, On October 25, 1971, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) 8
26	26	adopted Resolution 2758, which recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the 9
27	27	representative of the member state “China” in the UN; and 10
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29	29	WHEREAS, The sole purpose of Resolution 2758 was to address the question of 11
30	30	which government would represent the seat in the UN for China and was never intended 12
31	31	to address any other topic including those related to Taiwan’s ultimate political status; and 13
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33	33	WHEREAS, The PRC frequently conflates Resolution 2758 with its “One China 14
34	34	Principle” (OCP), which is a policy held by the Chinese Communist Party alleging that the 15
35	35	PRC is the only sovereign nation using the name “China” and that Taiwan is an inalienable 16
36	36	part of China; and 17
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38	38	WHEREAS, PRC officials misrepresent Resolution 2758, claiming that the adoption 18
39	39	of the resolution implies acceptance of the PRC’s OCP including the PRC claims to Taiwan 19
40	40	despite the fact that Resolution 2758 does not and was never meant to represent an 20
41	41	international consensus regarding Taiwan and whether or not it is a part of the PRC; and 21
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43	43	WHEREAS, The PRC misleadingly claims that countries with a “One China Policy” 22
44	44	have accepted and abide by the PRC OCP and has misused Resolution 2758 to influence 10 23
45	45	countries since 2016 to change their diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the PRC; and 24
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49	49	WHEREAS, The One China Policy of the United States does acknowledge the PRC’s 1
50	50	OCP; however, it affirms that: (1) the United States does not take a position on Taiwan’s 2
51	51	status and (2) this issue should be resolved peacefully by the people on both sides of the 3
52	52	Taiwan Strait; and 4
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54	54	WHEREAS, In 1982, the United States conveyed the Six Assurances to the Republic 5
55	55	of China President Chiang Ching–kuo, including that the United States had not changed 6
56	56	its stance on Taiwan’s sovereignty, and with each successive presidential administration 7
57	57	the Six Assurances have been reaffirmed; and 8
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59	59	WHEREAS, The PRC has weaponized Resolution 2758 and the OCP to isolate and 9
60	60	delegitimize Taiwan globally and to prevent its participation at the UN, UN–affiliated 10
61	61	agencies, and other international organizations, including the International Civil Aviation 11
62	62	Organization and Interpol; and 12
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64	64	WHEREAS, Former U.S. officials have observed that the PRC manipulates 13
65	65	Resolution 2758 to make false claims regarding Taiwan’s status in order to undermine the 14
66	66	international order and the international system; and 15
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68	68	WHEREAS, The PRC’s strategy of disseminating disinformation about the scope and 16
69	69	purpose of Resolution 2758 is succeeding with some UN members refusing to support 17
70	70	Taiwan’s participation in UN entities, including the expulsion of Taiwan from the Central 18
71	71	American Parliament after 20 years as a permanent observer and the routing of 19
72	72	communications to Taiwan through the PRC; and 20
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74	74	WHEREAS, U.S. Department of State officials have made statements making the 21
75	75	following observations: (1) Resolution 2758 did not endorse, is not equivalent to, and does 22
76	76	not reflect a consensus for China’s OCP, a term that refers to the PRC’s own position on 23
77	77	Taiwan; (2) Resolution 2758 has no bearing on countries’ sovereign choices with respect to 24
78	78	their relationships with Taiwan; (3) Resolution 2758 did not constitute a UN institutional 25
79	79	position on the ultimate political status of Taiwan; and (4) Resolution 2758 does not 26
80	80	preclude Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the UN system and other multilateral 27
81	81	forums; and 28
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83	83	WHEREAS, For the third time and for 2 consecutive years, most recently in October 29
84	84	2024, the U.S. Department of State sent a letter to state officials, city mayors, and Fortune 30
85	85	500 CEOs urging them to deepen their relationship with Taiwan in areas such as trade, 31
86	86	education, investment, and tourism; and 32
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88	88	WHEREAS, U.S. allies including Australia, Canada, the European Parliament, the 33
89	89	Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have rejected the PRC’s attempt to distort 34
90	90	Resolution 2758 to exclude Taiwan from UN participation; and 35
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92	92	WHEREAS, The PRC’s weaponization of Resolution 2758 includes threats to Taipei 36
93	93	that if Taiwan does not clarify UN member states’ understanding of the resolution, Beijing 37
94	94	might overturn the cross–Strait status quo; and 38
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98	98	WHEREAS, The government of Taiwan appealed to the UNGA for greater inclusion 1
99	99	at the 79th UNGA in September 2024 which featured the theme “Leaving no one behind: 2
100	100	acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity 3
101	101	for present and future generations”; and 4
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103	103	WHEREAS, The PRC’s weaponization of Resolution 2758 has left behind Taiwan’s 5
104	104	23.5 million people since 1971; now, therefore, be it 6
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106	106	RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That the General 7
107	107	Assembly calls on the UN to oppose the misuse of Resolution 2758 by the PRC and for the 8
108	108	UN to cease using Resolution 2758 to deny Taiwan participation in UN institutions; and be 9
109	109	it further 10
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111	111	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly calls on the UN Secretariat to remain 11
112	112	neutral and to cease citing Resolution 2758 to prevent Taiwanese nationals and news media 12
113	113	from visiting UN buildings or attending or covering UN conferences and events; and be it 13
114	114	further 14
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116	116	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly reaffirms that the longstanding One China 15
117	117	Policy of the United States does not recognize the PRC’s claim of control over Taiwan and 16
118	118	its outlying islands and reaffirms the interest of the United States in a peaceful resolution 17
119	119	of cross–Strait issues; and be it further 18
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121	121	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly has not agreed to take any position 19
122	122	regarding sovereignty over Taiwan and will not exert pressure on Taiwan to enter into 20
123	123	negotiations with the PRC; and be it further 21
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125	125	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly reaffirms that the One China Policy of the 22
126	126	United States and similar policies of its partners are not equivalent to the OCP of the 23
127	127	Chinese Communist Party; and be it further 24
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129	129	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly emphasizes that Resolution 2758 is not 25
130	130	equivalent to, and does not endorse or reflect, the PRC’s OCP; and be it further 26
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132	132	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly emphasizes further that Resolution 2758 27
133	133	does not take a position on Taiwan’s ultimate political status, as explicitly recognized by 28
134	134	the PRC leaders at the time and does not represent a UN consensus on Taiwan’s status; 29
135	135	and be it further 30
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137	137	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly opposes China’s distortion of Resolution 31
138	138	2758, which is wrongfully conflated with the so–called OCP; and be it further 32
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140	140	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly supports Taiwan’s diplomatic allies in 33
141	141	continuing official relationships with Taiwan and other nations across the world in 34
142	142	strengthening their partnership with Taiwan; and be it further 35
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146	146	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly reaffirms support for Taiwan’s 1
147	147	membership in international organizations for which statehood is not a requirement for 2
148	148	membership and encourages participation for Taiwan in organizations in which its 3
149	149	membership is not possible; and be it further 4
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151	151	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly encourages the U.S. government to work 5
152	152	with partners on joint efforts to counter China’s false narratives about Resolution 2758; 6
153	153	and be it further 7
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155	155	RESOLVED, That the General Assembly supports the efforts of other countries to 8
156	156	differentiate between their policies and the OCP to counter PRC propaganda about 9
157	157	international views of Taiwan; and be it further 10
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159	159	RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be forwarded by the Department of 11
160	160	Legislative Services to the Honorable Wes Moore, Governor of Maryland; the Honorable 12
161	161	William C. Ferguson, IV, President of the Senate of Maryland; the Honorable Adrienne A. 13
162	162	Jones, Speaker of the House of Delegates; and the Honorable Alexander Yui, representative 14
163	163	of Taiwan to the United States, 4201 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. 20016. 15
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