TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Video surfaced on Saturday (Sept. 16) showing a U.N. spokesperson struggle to justify Taiwan's exclusion from the organization.

When asked by a reporter whether Taiwan should be included in the U.N.'s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) campaign on Friday (Sept. 15), U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said, "I think exclusion of anyone holds back the goals," per Reuters. "Every person matters, whether it's Taiwan or otherwise. And I think it's really important for member states to find a solution," added Mohammed.

At a press briefing later on Friday, Aljazeera's diplomatic editor James Bays asked U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq whether "every person matters" applies to other issues. Bays then listed the example of barring Taiwanese from entering the U.N. headquarters and asked if there is a way to ensure that people are not being excluded in this way.

Haq said that under General Assembly resolution Resolution 2758, the U.N. upholds the "One China" policy and that its actions are based on this resolution. Bays said that seemed to contradict the policy outlined by Mohammed of "not leaving anyone behind."

Faq said that the U.N. has no intention of leaving "any of the people of China behind, and we support all of the people of China." Bays then asked, "Including the people of Taiwan?"

Faq reiterated that the U.N. adheres to its "One China" policy as dictated by the General Assembly. Bays pointed out that there are citizens of the Republic of China who consider Taiwanese to be part of "One China" and asked why they are not allowed into the U.N. headquarters and are told they carry the "wrong pass."

The deputy spokesperson claimed that the U.N. accepts passports, but only of member states. Bays countered that the exclusion of entry into the building is not specified in the resolution and said, "It's just your interpretation of the resolution, and you are excluding those people from access to U.N. headquarters."

Faq concurred with Bays that the policy is conducted "in accordance with our interpretation of a General Assembly resolution," before taking another unrelated question from a different reporter.

The only indirect reference to Taiwan in the resolution calls for the expulsion of "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it." As Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) died in 1975, it is unclear what "representatives" the resolution now refers to.

U.N. spox struggled to answer questions from @baysontheroad today on Taiwan's exclusion from the U.N., referring only to "China."



In the morning, deputy sec gen Amina Mohammed had spoken out against Taiwan's exclusion. It doesn't seem that Guterres's team thinks the same way. pic.twitter.com/N9qBL1JLUd

— Jimmy Quinn (@james_t_quinn) September 15, 2023