Fake nations, foreign powers
Former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), in a speech after receiving an honorary doctorate from National Chung Cheng University, said that Taiwan has always been ruled by foreign powers, with even the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) being a foreign government. Taiwanese have suffered as slaves under foreign governments for a long time.
Why has Taiwan’s fate always been decided by foreign governments? Why has it always been treated as a scapegoat by superpowers? In 1544, Portuguese sailors called Taiwan “Formosa” — beautiful island. The Dutch government ruled Taiwan from 1624 to 1662; the Spanish from 1626 to 1642; the Kingdom of Tungning, 1662 to 1683; the Qing Dynasty from 1683 to 1895; Japan from 1895 to 1945; and the Republic of China (ROC) from 1945 until today.
In 1895, after the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing emperor ceded Taiwan to Japan. In 1945, after Japan surrendered to the allies, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) — under US Army General Douglas MacArthur’s General Order No. 1 — occupied Taiwan. The San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed in 1951 and Japan renounced the right, title and claim to Formosa and the Pescadores (Penghu). No entity was named as the recipient of Taiwan’s sovereignty, though the US was named as the principal occupying power. However, the military occupation order has never been lifted.
One of the most controversial issues in Taiwan is international recognition. Is Taiwan an independent, sovereign nation? If yes, then what is the name of the nation: the Republic of China or the Republic of Taiwan? The ROC was established in 1912, when Taiwan was Japan’s territory. The ROC was expelled by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 to become a government-in-exile. The ROC has never legally owned Taiwan’s sovereignty. The same logic applies to the PRC, since, at its establishment in 1949, Taiwan was still owned by Japan. Neither the PRC nor the ROC were invited to the San Francisco Peace Conference. Neither has been authorized by an international treaty to control Taiwan’s sovereignty.
The KMT always quotes the Cairo Declaration as the certificate that the international community used to transfer Taiwan’s sovereignty from Japan to the ROC. However, this is not true.
First, the so-called Cairo Declaration is nothing except a news communique, without any signature from the “Big Three.” Second, the Treaty of Taipei, also known as the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty, was signed to officially end the war between Japan and China. There is not anything related to the transition of Taiwan’s sovereignty. Taiwan was within the Pacific theater, not China. The legal status of Taiwan was regulated under the San Francisco Peace Treaty, which authorized the US military as the principal occupying power. The ROC is nothing more than a political refugee. The international community calls the ROC “Chinese Taipei,” as an abbreviation of China’s exiled government in Taipei.
The Chinese Taipei name is like the cooking oil scandals for Taiwan’s political status. As Chinese Taipei, Taiwan will never be recognized as an independent, sovereign state.
Since 1945, the KMT regime has sucked Taiwan’s resources like blood to maintain their illusion of power. They separated Taiwanese into classes to control their loyalty. Those who are KMT die-hards always enjoy privileges in finance, reputation and courtroom judgements. Even the guilty are spared jail. Those from the opposition are jailed before any evidence of conviction. Under the KMT, Taiwan is a world of double standards.
This year, the public has risen. The Sunflower movement woke up a lot of Taiwanese. The ongoing cooking oil scandals have exposed the hypocrisy of the KMT government. People are ashamed of those specious debate questioners, Thomas Peng (彭錦鵬), Chiang Mei (江梅) and Chang Jing-li (張錦麗), becoming Sean Lien’s (連勝文) campaign assistants in the Taipei mayoral debate.
Those who truly love Taiwan, care for the value of democracy and will build Taiwan for future generations should stand up to get rid of foreign governments and terminate the illusory nation of the ROC. If we do not want to be trapped in what Hong Kong is struggling against, now is the time for Taiwanese to seriously plan their own future.
Dear friends, you hold the key to build the nation you like. Please open your eyes, reject the bribery, cast your ballot to build your dream city — to rebuild your confidence and the reputation of Taiwan and to uphold a just and civil society.
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
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