Good morning, and welcome to the Global Situation Report for Wednesday, 04 September 2024.
- TAIWAN LOOKING FOR RECOGNITION AT UN THIS MONTH: Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is asking its allies in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to rebuke the UN’s “erroneous interpretation of Resolution 2758” in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutterres. The UNGA meets from 10-30 September.
- Resolution 2758 switched recognition from the “representatives of Chiang Kai-shek” to the People’s Republic of China as the “only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations” in 1971.
- Taiwan’s Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs described China’s use of the resolution as a distortion that can be used to justify force against Taiwan which would disrupt the status quo.
- The Deputy Secretary stated that Taiwan “is a sovereign nation and has legitimate rights to be part of the UN.”
Why It Matters: A successful push for reinterpretation of 2758 would be a soft recognition of Taiwan’s sovereignty. The letter is unlikely to draw an immediate military reaction from China if the letter has enough backing. However, China would likely increase its sanctions on any member of the UN that joins the letter. – J.V.
- Global Rollup
- Arizona and Taiwan signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop and transfer drone technology to Taiwan. Taiwan will use the technology to manufacture drones. (Taiwan is also building two Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company advanced semiconductor factories in Arizona. These two developments will make Arizona a prime target for Chinese gray zone warfare. – J.V.)
- Raymond Greene, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (the U.S.’ de facto embassy) said yesterday that the United States would not rule out weapons production with Taiwan to speed up weapons delivery to the island.
- The Japanese and South Korean Foreign Ministers will sign an agreement this week to assist each other in evacuating their citizens from a third country in the event of an armed conflict or other emergency.
- RIA Novosti accused China of selling drones to Ukraine via “the Chinese drone manufacturer” during the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) press conference today. Chinese MFA Spokeswoman Mao Ning said that she was unaware of the specifics but that China opposed “using civilian drones for military purposes.”
THAT’S A WRAP: This does it for today’s edition. Thank you for reading. If you know folks who would also like to receive this email, would you please forward it to them? We appreciate you spreading the word. – M.S.