International diplomacy is a fascinating but often confusing arena. The horrendous October 7 attack on Israel by the Hamas terrorist organization has inexplicably renewed demands to recognize a Palestinian state.
In May this year, Norway, Ireland, and Spain decided to recognize a Palestinian state, followed by Slovenia in June and most recently Armenia. Currently, 14 of the 27 European Union countries and 145 out of the 193 UN member states have recognized it.
But why on earth is the European political elite even toying with the idea of recognizing a Palestinian state that doesn’t meet any of the criteria expected of a legitimate state?
Palestine has no defined borders, and its control is contested by two mutually hostile factions – the totally corrupt and unpopular Fatah-run Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and Hamas in Gaza, both of which perpetrate terrorism against Israel, each from their territories.
The economic and business structures of the region are in the stages of infancy, due to corruption and terrorism. Democracy, the rule of law, and human rights, which should be basic European values, are nonexistent in the Palestinian territories. In Palestinian schools, children are taught to hate Jews through UNRWA textbooks funded by many EU countries.
An opinion survey published on June 12, and conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in the Palestinian territories, opens up the attitudinal climate of the region’s population in more detail:
Seventy-three percent of West Bank residents and 57% of Gaza residents consider the October 7 attacks to have been correct and justified.
Seventy-one of West Bank residents and 46% of Gaza residents support the continuation of the Hamas regime in Gaza.
Only 4% of West Bank residents and 9% of Gaza residents want the current PA, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, to govern Gaza.
Ninety-four percent of West Bank residents and 83% of Gaza residents want Abbas to resign.
Fifty-six percent of West Bank residents and 70% of Gaza residents support the dissolution of the PA.
Only 32% of both West Bank and Gaza residents support the two-state model, with Israel as the other party.
Sixty-two percent of West Bank residents and 64% of Gaza residents support resorting to an armed intifada against Israel.
WHY DOES Palestine qualify for statehood but Taiwan doesn’t?
After everything that happened on October 7, the eagerness of more and more EU leaders to flirt with Palestinian factions that envision the destruction of Israel is incomprehensible and irrational.
That obsession appears particularly confusing when compared to Taiwan’s decades-long position as a diplomatic outcast in the international community.
This island state of approximately 23 million inhabitants, which respects democracy and human rights and meets all the criteria of a functioning state, has been recognized by only 12 states, and with the exception of the Vatican and Guatemala, these are mainly micro-states in the Pacific Ocean. However, no one seems to be worried about the position of this politically, economically, and technologically stable non-state in front of hostile mainland China.
The background of this strange arrangement is the so-called One China plan prepared by then-US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in 1970-1972 and approved by then-president Richard Nixon. The new policy was published in conjunction with Nixon’s visit to China in the joint Shanghai Communiqué of 28 February, 1972:
“The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The US government does not challenge that position. It reaffirms its interest in a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question by the Chinese themselves. With this prospect in mind, it affirms the ultimate objective of the withdrawal of all US forces and military installations from Taiwan.”
Even before this, in October 1971, the UN General Assembly had approved UN Resolution 2758, according to which Beijing, the Communist People’s Republic of China, is the only legitimate government of China, and, in the same context, Taiwan (i.e. the Republic of China) lost its membership in the UN.
Taiwan applied for UN membership, yet again, in 2007, but its application was rejected, with citation of the aforementioned resolution 2758.
Currently, the US’s Taiwan policy is based on the resolution passed by both chambers of Congress on October 28, 2015.
Henry Kissinger, who had just turned 100 years old, visited Beijing in July 2023, just a few months before his death, and continued to defend the One China policy. According to news published by Reuters on July 21, 2023, Kissinger stated that “under the current circumstances, it is imperative to maintain the principles established by the Shanghai Communiqué, appreciate the utmost importance China attaches to the one-China principle, and move the relationship in a positive direction.”
Kissinger’s statement was a response to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s statement on October 26, 2021, in which the US announced its support for Taiwan’s accession to UN structures, and the visit of house speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan on August 2, 2022.
According to the news published by the television channel CNBC on May 23, 2022, in his speech at the Davos Economic Forum, Kissinger said “Washington and Beijing must seek to avoid putting Taiwan at the center of their tense diplomatic relationship, adding that the need for the world’s two largest economies to avoid direct confrontation is in the interest of global peace.”
The warning had been preceded by President Joe Biden’s announcement to intervene militarily if China attacked Taiwan.
IT’S TIME to recognize Taiwan. While the People’s Republic of China despises human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, it is also waging trade wars with both the US and the EU. Additionally, it has allegedly supported Hamas’s tunnel construction in Gaza, and is threatening Taiwan militarily, so why on earth does it get the distinction of being the only legitimate Chinese state?
Five recommend actions for Western leaders
It is, therefore, high time for the international community to implement the two-state model as it relates to the China issue. And to do so, let me recommend five concrete steps for Western leaders:
• Recognize Taiwan as an independent and sovereign state and promote the broad recognition of Taiwan in the EU, the UN, and negotiations with the US.
• Put the Palestinian state recognition talks on hold and put pressure on its de facto rulers (Fatah and Hamas) to release the hostages, stop armed activities against Israel, and respect the values of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
• Promote extreme sanctions and other measures against Iran, which threatens the stability of the Middle East and supports terrorism through its vassal states and proxies.
• Dissociate from the resolution proposals of Islamist countries in the UN and join the front of righteous countries as defenders of Israel.
• Be pro-Israel, take a bold stand for the only democracy in the Middle East, and the only Jewish state in the world, which is currently defending itself against Iran and its terrorist proxies while fighting for its existence.
Such a position is a strong message for security in the Middle East and can lead to genuine peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
The writer is chairman of the Federation of Finland-Israel Associations (est. 1954,) vice chairman of the Finnish Holocaust Remembrance Association HUM, and secretary of the Group Against Antisemitism in the Parliament of Finland.