Quite a controversy has erupted within these pages over Richard Hartzell's recent interpretations of Taiwan's legal status as defined by international law ("Recover Taiwan's post-war position" July 15, page 8). As a humble citizen of Taiwan, I feel deeply honored and deeply grateful for the attention and concern of so many people for my oppressed country.
However, international law is not going to help Taiwan. It will not stop China's ambitions. International law will not cause the US to begin a military occupation of Taiwan. And international law will not quell the incessant petty squabbling among Taiwanese politicians.
Worse, according to Hartzell's interpretation, Taiwan should be under the military occupation of the US. What if academics in Beijing came up with the same conclusion? This would provide the People's Liberation Army hawks with a nice excuse to "liberate those comrades in Taiwan to save them from the yoke of US imperialism and occupation," a scenario I would not exactly relish.
In the past, international law failed to prevent World War I and World War II from happening, because no law and no treaty could restrain the crazy, irrational ambitions of the Kaiser, Hitler, Mussolini and all the rest. China has crazy, irrational ambitions, as evidenced by its expanding military, its barbaric behavior toward other delegates at international conferences and its desire to nuke innocent US cities.
Hopefully, Taiwan's fate will be resolved by the rational, collective decision of its 23 million citizens. Such a result would, I think, carry more weight with the international community than any law or treaty. It might also make China think twice about taking on a united nation and the overwhelming support of international public opinion.
Bert Chen
Taipei
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