President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government implemented a boycott of former top Japanese representative to Taiwan Masaki Saito after he said that Taiwan’s status remained undecided. Eventually, Saito had to resign for “personal reasons” early this month. This unfortunate outcome is the result of the government’s inability to know what is good for itself, as it is helping China to annex Taiwan while completely disregarding Taiwanese interests.
Based on the San Francisco Peace Treaty, what Saito said is a legal fact. For Taiwan, this state of undecidedness is second in importance only to full recognition as an independent, sovereign state. International support is necessary for Taiwan to protect itself against Chinese annexation.
Under the principles of international law, which do not support interference in the internal affairs of other countries, perhaps the best way for Taiwan to obtain international support is to gain recognition as an independent, sovereign state. Failing this, maintaining its undecided status is the nation’s best option.
Japan does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state. The San Francisco Peace Treaty does not specify who has sovereignty over the nation’s territory. Although China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, Japan merely expresses its comprehension of and respect for that claim, without recognizing its validity. This allows Taiwan to maintain the possibility of asserting de jure independence and autonomy.
If the government had advocated the idea that sovereignty lies with the people and that Taiwan’s democratic transformation has turned it into an independent state separate from China, it would certainly have been in a position to condemn Saito’s “unfriendly” remarks. This, however, is not the government’s stance. It still sees itself as a party to the Chinese civil war and a government in exile that is occupying Taiwan, and wants to link the nation’s sovereignty to China.
The government claims that the Republic of China (ROC) has sovereignty over Taiwan, but has also accepted the “one China” principle, thereby diminishing the nation’s status to that of a region of China. This stance is causing Taiwan even greater damage than Saito’s remark did.
Ma’s pledge that neither unification nor independence would take place during his presidency is inconsistent with his earlier goal of eventual unification, and this is in practice another version of the view that the ROC’s status is undecided. As a consequence, the ROC would disappear if China were to annex Taiwan, which means that Ma’s policy could lead to the annihilation of the ROC.
Saito’s description of Taiwan’s status as undecided is advantageous to the Taiwanese people’s claim to sovereignty, but Ma’s version of Taiwan’s undecided status is advantageous to China’s claim. Saito cares about Taiwan, while Ma cares about China.
James Wang is a media commentator.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
The government and local industries breathed a sigh of relief after Shin Kong Life Insurance Co last week said it would relinquish surface rights for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) to Nvidia Corp. The US chip-design giant’s plan to expand its local presence will be crucial for Taiwan to safeguard its core role in the global artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem and to advance the nation’s AI development. The land in dispute is owned by the Taipei City Government, which in 2021 sold the rights to develop and use the two plots of land, codenamed T17 and T18, to the
Art and cultural events are key for a city’s cultivation of soft power and international image, and how politicians engage with them often defines their success. Representative to Austria Liu Suan-yung’s (劉玄詠) conducting performance and Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen’s (盧秀燕) show of drumming and the Tainan Jazz Festival demonstrate different outcomes when politics meet culture. While a thoughtful and professional engagement can heighten an event’s status and cultural value, indulging in political theater runs the risk of undermining trust and its reception. During a National Day reception celebration in Austria on Oct. 8, Liu, who was formerly director of the
US President Donald Trump has announced his eagerness to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un while in South Korea for the APEC summit. That implies a possible revival of US-North Korea talks, frozen since 2019. While some would dismiss such a move as appeasement, renewed US engagement with North Korea could benefit Taiwan’s security interests. The long-standing stalemate between Washington and Pyongyang has allowed Beijing to entrench its dominance in the region, creating a myth that only China can “manage” Kim’s rogue nation. That dynamic has allowed Beijing to present itself as an indispensable power broker: extracting concessions from Washington, Seoul
Taiwan’s labor force participation rate among people aged 65 or older was only 9.9 percent for 2023 — far lower than in other advanced countries, Ministry of Labor data showed. The rate is 38.3 percent in South Korea, 25.7 percent in Japan and 31.5 percent in Singapore. On the surface, it might look good that more older adults in Taiwan can retire, but in reality, it reflects policies that make it difficult for elderly people to participate in the labor market. Most workplaces lack age-friendly environments, and few offer retraining programs or flexible job arrangements for employees older than 55. As
RSS