This lasted until 1949, when Mao Zedong proclaimed the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing and the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan, from which Japan had withdrawn in 1945 and to which it would in 1951 renounce all right, title and claim.

[4] By January 1950 the PRC was in control of mainland China but was unable to capture Taiwan, Penghu, Matsu or Kinmen, and thus these remained Kuomintang-ruled.

[1] The PRC claimed to be the successor government of the ROC, while the Kuomintang in Taiwan championed the continued existence of the Republic of China.

[4] On 15 July 1971, 17 UN members: Albania, Algeria, the Congo, Cuba, Guinea, Iraq, Mali, Mauritania, North Yemen, Romania, Somalia, South Yemen, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Yugoslavia, and Zambia, requested that a question of the "Restoration of the lawful rights of the People's Republic of China in the United Nations" be placed on the provisional agenda of the twenty-sixth session of the United Nations General Assembly.

[6] In the view of the 17 UN members, the ROC were unlawful authorities installed in the island of Taiwan which claimed to represent China, and they remained there only because of the permanent presence of United States Armed Forces.

It was in the fundamental interests, they concluded, of the United Nations to "restore" promptly to the People's Republic of China its seat in the organization, thus putting an end to a "grave injustice" and "dangerous situation" which had been perpetuated in order to fulfill a policy that had been increasingly repudiated.

[10] On 15 October 1971 the representatives of 22 UN members requested the UN Secretary-General to distribute, as an official Assembly document, a statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China dated 20 August 1971.

[6] Taiwan, it continued, was an inalienable part of Chinese territory and a province of China which had already been returned to the motherland after the Second World War.

[6] The U.S., in its submission, took the opposite view; arguing that adoption of the resolution expelling the representatives sent from Taipei would imply the termination of the membership of a longstanding member.

The spokesman of the Republic of China submitted that his country had earned its place in the United Nations by virtue of its contribution to peace and freedom during the Second World War.

[11] The Assembly then voted on a separate U.S. proposal that the words "and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupied at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it" be removed from the draft resolution A/L.630 and Add.1 and 2.

The U.S. representative suggested that this motion, if adopted, would "have the effect of welcoming the PRC to the General Assembly and the Security Council, while at the same time not affecting the representation of the ROC in this hall".

[11] At this point the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the ROC, Chow Shu-Kai, stated "in view of the frenzied and irrational manners that have been exhibited in this hall, the delegation of the Republic of China has now decided not to take part in any further proceedings of this General Assembly.

Similarly, Article 110 specifies that "The present Charter shall come into force upon the deposit of ratifications by the Republic of China [...]" These provisions remain valid to this day, despite Taiwan's withdrawal.

[18][19][20][21] According to academic Margaret Lewis of Seton Hall University School of Law, the resolution over the representation in the UN has been widely interpreted to support China's claim over Taiwan.

In early 2024, Nauru was the first country to cite Resolution 2758 for cutting its diplomatic tie with Taiwan and building a formal relation with China.

[24] The official Xinhua News Agency noted that China established diplomatic ties with 183 countries on the condition of its one-China principle.

[26] In 2000, Taiwanese foreign minister Tien Hung-mao addressed to the Legislative Yuan that the Republic of China was a founding member of the United Nations, yet Resolution 2758, which addressed the representation of the people of the Mainland Area, excluded the representation of the people of the Taiwan Area, a situation he found inappropriate.

Alternatively, if Taiwan aims to rejoin the UN, it must overturn Resolution 2758, which requires a two-thirds majority vote in the UN General Assembly—a highly challenging objective to achieve.

[39] According to a 2014 Congressional Research Service (CRS) report, the US administrations have not explicitly stated a position on the political status of Taiwan.

[39] In April 2024, US State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark Lambert spoke at a German Marshall Fund (GMF) seminar, saying that "Resolution 2758 does not endorse, is not equivalent to, and does not reflect a consensus for the PRC's 'one China' principle".

[38] The US has generally supported Taiwan's meaningful participation in UN agencies and international organizations, particularly in areas like global health (WHO), aviation safety (ICAO), and law enforcement (Interpol), while stopping short of advocating for full UN membership.