In 2021, Chloe Zhao (趙婷) made history as the first Asian and Chinese woman to win an Oscar for Best Director, a milestone celebrated worldwide.
However, her success was snubbed and even censored in China. Instead of receiving praise, a deceitful narrative emerged, claiming that she was in fact the second Chinese filmmaker to win the award after Ang Lee (李安) — a Taiwanese director who won Academy Awards in 2006 and 2013.
Unfortunately, this was only one of many lies fabricated by China to further its agenda. On Monday, China raised eyebrows at the ninth China, South Korea and Japan trilateral summit.
Following the summit, Chinese state media falsely reported: “[South Korean] President Yoon Suk-yeol expressed that South Korea adheres to the ‘one China principle’ and remains steadfast in this view.”
However, the South Korean presidential office released an official statement telling a different story. It was notably free of any mention of the “one China” principle. “South Korea, as it has in the past, remains firmly committed to the development of Chinese-Korean relations,” it said.
China appears to have fudged the statement, a diplomatic faux pas that was sharply criticized by South Korean media outlets.
South Korea and China established formal diplomatic relations in 1992. For over 30 years, South Korea’s view on Taiwan has remained steadfast, consistently adhering to Article 3 of the declaration: “South Korea recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, and respects China’s stance that there is only one China and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.”
South Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated its view: “Ever since the establishment of South Korean and Chinese relations, South Korea has consistently adhered to China’s stance, and this summit only re-affirms our position.”
Adherence to China’s “stance” is wholly different from adherence to the “one China” principle. Beijing’s “one China” principle is based upon three key points: “There is but one China in the world, the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government of China, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.” South Korea’s adherence to China’s “position” applies to the first two statements. As for the third statement regarding the status of Taiwan, South Korea has long-established that it merely “respects” China’s stance.
“Respect” is not synonymous with “acceptance” or “recognition.”
Similar to the distortion of Yoon’s statement, Beijing has misrepresented UN Resolution 2758 adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971. Although the resolution makes no mention of Taiwan, China continues to propagate the shameless lie that the resolution declared Taiwan to be an “inalienable part of China.”
Only about 50 countries recognize Beijing’s “one China” principle, accounting for more than 26 percent of the world. Over 70 percent of countries have a stance on Taiwan either “acknowledging,” “noting” or “understanding and respecting” Beijing’s “one China” principle, or simply not mentioning Taiwan in their diplomatic communiques at all.
Beijing maliciously misinterpreted Yoon’s words and is using Chinese language and Chinese-owned media to propagate its disinformation campaign worldwide.
From the media outlets controlled by Beijing, false claims regarding the “one China” principle are not surprising. However, it becomes cause for concern when those same lies appear in Taiwanese media and from a nation that upholds the values of freedom and diversity.
Chen Shih-min is an associate professor in National Taiwan University’s political science department.
Translated by Gabrielle Killick
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