Activity Type: Placement of PRC Party-State Content

On February 26, 2025, Chinese Ambassador to Spain Yao Jing (姚敬) published an article in the digital newspaper El Periódico de España titled “There Is No Room for Ambiguity in UN General Assembly Resolution 2758.”  In the article, he argued that UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 — which transferred China’s seat in the United Nations from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the People’s Republic of China in October 1971 — settled Taiwan’s status as part of China. Not surprisingly, Yao’s argument perfectly mirrored the Chinese Communist Party’s official position on the resolution, which holds that Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China’s territory” (中國領土不可分割的一部分), a claim known as the “One China Principle.” This principle asserts that there is only one China, that Taiwan is part of it, and that the PRC is its sole legitimate government. However, the full text of the resolution makes no mention of Taiwan or the Republic of China, nor does it make any determination about its sovereignty — it deals only with the question of who will represent China at the United Nations. Commemorating the 20th anniversary of the China-Spain Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, which he said had deepened economic cooperation, trade and green energy, Yao called on Spain to “jointly defend the authority and effectiveness” of the resolution. He urged Spain to actively back the CCP’s interpretation of the 2758 resolution. However, Spain follows the One-China policy regarding Taiwan, meaning it acknowledges Beijing’s position but does not endorse China’s sovereignty over the island.

On May 13, 2025, El Triangle, a Catalan magazine, published an op-ed by Meng Yuhong (孟宇宏), China’s consul general in Barcelona, titled “The one-China principle cannot be questioned, and United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 cannot be challenged.” In the article, the consul wrote that the”One China Principle” (Beijing’s position that Taiwan is part of China and that the People’s Republic of China is its sole legitimate government) “cannot be questioned.” The piece, part of a recurring opinion column in the outlet by Meng, who has her own bio page, warned that “any attempt” to separate Taiwan would be “harshly responded to by 1.4 billion Chinese,” language consistent with standard PRC rhetoric on the issue. Meng also cited Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s April 2025 visit to Beijing, claiming that Sánchez “reiterated” Spain’s support for the “One China Principle.” This claim does not match the language of the Spanish government in its readout of the visit — nor is it reflected in reporting on the visit by Reuters, the Associated Press, or Euronews.