Letters

Soong's heart lies elsewhere

While it is both understandable and regrettable, we continue to wonder why People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) gets so much attention. Taiwan has clearly demonstrated it wants to rule itself.

Long before this current deviation of former political stars in Taiwan it was clear that the top three held these stances: A-bian [President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁)] had both feet in Taiwan. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) had one in China and the other in Taiwan. Soong had one in China and the other in the US.

Unfortunately, at least half of the adult population in Taiwan has never had a clue about what is really going on.

Bill Parkhurst

Taichung County

Taiwan doesn't belong to PRC

Yite Lee is illogical and self-contradictory (Letters, Jan. 16, page 8). His arguments do not support his conclusion.

Taiwan (including the Pescadores) was ceded permanently to Japan by the Qing Dynasty in 1895 under the Treaty of Shimonoseki, and was abandoned by Japan in 1945 at the end of World War II.

Japan then relinquished Taiwan, without specifying the beneficiary, in the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, which was signed by 48 countries. Neither the Republic of China (ROC) nor the People's Republic of China (PRC) was among these 48 signatory countries. The 1952 Taipei Peace Treaty signed between Japan and the ROC was a carbon copy of the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, and again did not specify a new ruling body.

In essence, Japan did not return Taiwan to the ROC or the PRC because neither was named as the beneficiary. Lee's statement that "the ROC is the reason that Taiwan belongs to China" is a mistake.

Lee claims that the Shimonoseki treaty was not valid. He should have said this before Japan ruled Taiwan for 50 years.

Instead, Lee should say that China does not have the right to claim Taiwan, because Taiwan was given away on a permanent basis.

However, Lee did correctly point out the fact that "logically Japan cannot transfer Taiwan and the Pescadores again to any state, simply because Japan was not the owner of these territories anymore." This fact automatically invalidates the abrogation of the 1952 Taipei Peace Treaty by Japan at the request of the PRC.

Taiwan doesn't belong to the PRC. In the last 50 years, Taiwan has converted itself from an indeterminate state to an independent state.

Charles Hong

Columbus, Ohio