Why the UN should admit Taiwan

When writing about Taiwan, Western reporters often state that the country split off from China in 1949 as a result of the Chinese Civil War. This is a misleading statement giving the impression that Taiwan was always a part of China until 1949. In fact, in Taiwan's 400-year recorded history, the nation has been separated from China for long periods of time. This history is better characterized as an incessant struggle for freedom against alien rulers.

From 1624 to 1662, Taiwan was a Dutch colony. The Ming dynasty loyalist Koxinga and his son ruled Taiwan from 1662 to 1683. The Qing Dynasty then controlled Taiwan until 1895 when Taiwan and the Pescadores were ceded to Japan in perpetuity under the Treaty of Shimonseki. Unwilling to submit to Japanese rule, the Taiwanese established a short-lived Taiwan Democratic Republic that year.

At the end of World War II, dictator Chiang Kai-shek's (蔣介石) troops took over control of the nation on behalf of the Allied powers.

On Feb. 28, 1947, the people rose in protest against the Chinese administration, which in turn massacred some 28,000 protesters and community leaders. In the ensuing 38 years of martial law under the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) dictatorship, thousands more dissidents were imprisoned or executed.

In October 1971, Chiang's representatives were expelled from the UN. In 1979, the US recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC), and in 2000, a peaceful transfer of power from the KMT to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was achieved when Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was elected president.

It is factually incorrect to say that Taiwan has always been an integral part of China. It is also incorrect to assert that the nation is a province of the PRC. The PRC has never ruled Taiwan, not even a single day. Taiwan is not a part of China. Taiwan hasn't been Chinese territory since 1895, when China ceded Taiwan to Japan in perpetuity. The occupation of Taiwan in 1945 by Chiang's forces was a temporary measure on behalf of the Allied forces. It did not alter the legal status of the island.

In 1951, the Allied powers formally ended World War II with Japan under the San Francisco Peace Treaty, in which Japan gave up its sovereignty over Taiwan. But the treaty did not specify a recipient. Delegates of Great Britain, Egypt and France stated that Taiwan's legal status was to be determined at a future date in accordance with the principle of self-determination and the expressed wish of its inhabitants.

On Oct. 25, 1971, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 2758 recognizing the Government of the PRC as the only lawful representative of China to the UN and expelling Chiang's representatives from the UN and related organizations.

Resolution 2758, however, did not address the issue of Taiwan's sovereignty and did not confer on the PRC the right to represent Taiwan.

The US and many allied nations adopted a "One China policy" which is not well defined. When pressed, US government officials often merely recite the Taiwan Relations Act and the three Sino-US joint communiques of 1972, 1979 and 1982 as elements of that policy.

The key document is the 1972 Shanghai Communique, which states: "The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain that there is but one China and that Taiwan is part of China."