UK restates position on Taiwan in response to petition

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-05
By: Central News Agency

London, Feb. 4 (CNA) The British government on Thursday reiterated its official position of not recognizing Taiwan as a country and said the issue of Taiwan’s status should be resolved through dialogue based on the wishes of the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Responding to a petition that demands official recognition of Taiwan as a country, the British government began by saying: “The longstanding position of Her Majesty’s Government is that we do not recognize Taiwan as a state.”

“The 1972 Joint Communique between the United Kingdom and China set out that: ‘The UK acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is a province of the People’s Republic of China and recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China,'” according to the response prepared by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the government department responsible for foreign affairs.     [FULL  STORY]