Japan does not recognize North Korea as a state, but there are 151 countries that do, and North Korea is also a member of the United Nations. For this reason, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs lists the number of countries in the world as 196, excluding North Korea, but in certified textbooks, it seems to be written as 197, including North Korea, considering that North Korea is a member of the United Nations. The difference with Taiwan is the number of countries that recognize it as a state and whether it is a member of the United Nations or not.
Countries that recognize Taiwan as a state
Currently, there are 13 countries that recognize Taiwan as a state, and Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations. The fact that there are 13 countries that recognize Taiwan as a state means that Taiwan is a country for those 13 countries, and that they have embassies and diplomatic relations. So what about the fact that it is not a member of the United Nations?
What is the definition of a state?
Currently, there are 195 countries that Japan recognizes as states, and among them, the Vatican, Kosovo, Cook Islands, and Niue are not members of the United Nations. However, Japan has diplomatic relations with them and officially recognizes them as states. In that case, whether or not a country is a member of the United Nations does not determine whether it is a country or not, but rather seems to depend solely on whether or not countries recognize it as a country. How is a country defined internationally? This is shown in the 1933 "Montevideo Convention," which lists the following requirements for statehood: 1. Permanent population, 2. Clear territory, 3. Government, and 4. Ability to have relations with other countries.
Taiwan meets the requirements for a state
Looking at Taiwan, it is considered to meet all of the requirements of this treaty. There are 13 countries with which it has diplomatic relations, and it seems that how to evaluate the ability to have relations with other countries is a question, but this is largely due to the fact that China is hindering it internationally and it cannot establish diplomatic relations. Considering the national requirements shown in the Montevideo Convention, Taiwan meets the national requirements and is recognized as a country by 13 countries, and the reason this number does not increase is because of interference from China, and it cannot join the United Nations for the same purpose. It would be correct to see it this way.
Conditions for UN membership
The UN membership conditions require the approval of 9 of the 15 council members, and if even one of the permanent members opposes, the recommendation for membership cannot be made, so as long as China is a permanent member, it will not be possible for Taiwan to join the UN. So has Taiwan never been able to join the UN? Not at all. It's strange that it's not often mentioned in Japan, but Taiwan was a permanent member of the UN.
The Republic of China was a permanent member
At the end of the war, Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration, but the countries listed as counterparts were the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Republic of China. This is the Republic of China in Taiwan today. After the war, the United Nations was established in 1945, and the Republic of China, led by Chiang Kai-shek, was the permanent member at that time. After the war, Chiang Kai-shek returned to Nanjing and established a constitution, but the second Chinese civil war began. In 1949, the People's Republic of China declared its founding with Beijing as its capital, and the Republic of China resisted but continued to be defeated, and in December of the same year, it moved its capital to Taiwan. At this time, the Republic of China in Taiwan was still a permanent member of the United Nations. This situation continued for 22 years until 1971. For 26 years since the establishment of the United Nations, the Republic of China was a permanent member.
Albania Resolution
So what happened in 1971? The United Nations' Albanian Resolution was proposed. This is a resolution on China's representation submitted jointly by 23 countries, including Albania, which has a close relationship with the People's Republic of China. The resolution called for the People's Republic of China, which effectively controls mainland China, to be recognized as the representative government of China, and for the expulsion of the Republic of China from the United Nations. After some twists and turns, the resolution was changed from expulsion of the Republic of China to expulsion of Chiang Kai-shek's representative.
This resolution was a dispute over which government was the legitimate permanent member of the UN, and passed with 76 votes in favor, 35 against, 17 abstentions, and 3 absent. Japan persuaded Chiang Kai-shek to stay in the UN, and submitted the "Resolution on Important Issues Against Expulsion" and the "Resolution on Dual Representation" jointly with the United States. The "Resolution on Important Issues Against Expulsion" stated that such matters related to UN seats are important matters, and should be decided by a two-thirds majority in accordance with Article 18 of the UN Charter, but this was rejected by a majority, and the "Resolution on Dual Representation" was never voted on after the Albanian resolution passed. This "Dual Representation Resolution" proposed that the People's Republic of China would be the permanent member of the Security Council, and the Republic of China would maintain the remaining seats.
Now, in protest against the passing of the Albanian Resolution, Chiang Kai-shek left the UN chamber, and the Republic of China withdrew from the UN. This was a form of voluntary withdrawal. Strictly speaking, the resolution itself was the expulsion of Representative Chiang Kai-shek from his seat, so it can be said that the path for the Republic of China to remain in the UN was left open. And the "One China Principle" that China is currently talking about was not recognized by this Albanian Resolution, but merely a vote by the representative government on one side or the other.
Was there a way to remain in the UN?
The UN has stated that no country has ever been expelled from the UN in the past. The conditions for suspension are written in Article 5 of the UN Charter, but it is unlikely that this issue of representation would conflict with this, so it is thought that the Albanian Resolution also changed the original wording of the expulsion of the Republic of China to the expulsion of Representative Chiang Kai-shek. Regarding whether this was the expulsion of the Republic of China or the expulsion of Representative Chiang Kai-shek, there are both in Japanese information, and the original text is published in the American document, which says it was the expulsion of Representative Chiang Kai-shek.
If you think about it this way, you can see that at that time, if Chiang Kai-shek had stepped down as the government representative, the Republic of China could have joined the United Nations as a separate country from the People's Republic of China. Of course, it is not realistic for Chiang Kai-shek to step down as representative. In 1947, the Republic of China was under a military regime that imposed martial law for 38 years from 1949, which was the exact opposite of the democratic model of Taiwan today, and the international community at the time questioned the country's national administration in that sense as well. This 38 years of martial law is said to be the longest in human history.
The Albanian Resolution is the basis for China's current claim that the international community supported the One China principle, but such a resolution has never been made. The US government has officially stated that the issue of representation has been resolved, but the issue of sovereignty over Taiwan has not.
However, since the People's Republic of China was recognized as an official permanent member of the UN, one country after another sought diplomatic relations with China, and in exchange, China sought to break off diplomatic relations with Taiwan. It applied pressure by hinting at the veto power of the permanent members. In this context, Japan established diplomatic relations with China in 1972, and the United States also established diplomatic relations thereafter. In return, it ended up breaking off diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Not a resolution over territorial disputes
The important point is that the Albanian resolution decided which government would represent China, but the issue of sovereignty over Taiwan was not resolved here. The US government has also officially announced this. China claims that this resolution confirmed the One China principle.
