On 25 July 2025, the Chinese Embassy in the UK held a reception celebrating the 98th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army of China. Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang pointed out in his speech that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the recovery of Taiwan. Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China’s territory since ancient times. Both the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, issued by major victorious nations of WWII including China and the UK, stated in explicit terms that Taiwan is a territory that Japan had stolen from the Chinese, and shall be restored to China. All these instruments have confirmed China’s sovereignty over Taiwan, and formed an important part of the post-WWII international order. In 1971, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 with an overwhelming majority. It decides to restore all the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China at the UN and expel forthwith the representatives of the Taiwan authorities from the UN and all the organisations related to it. The resolution resolved, once and for all, the issue of the representation of the whole of China, including Taiwan, in the UN, and precluded any possibility of creating “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan.”

Ambassador Zheng emphasised that the Chinese people and their armed forces will never allow anyone to separate Taiwan from China in any way. Nor will they allow any external forces to undermine their efforts for complete reunification. All countries having diplomatic ties with China must properly handle Taiwan-related issues, which is key to the smooth development of bilateral relations with China.