A history lesson is required
On Dec. 10, 1898, Spain and the US signed the Treaty of Paris and according to Article I, Spain relinquished all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. With Article II Spain ceded Puerto Rico and Guam to the US, and with Article III ceded the Philippines to the US.
On April 21, 1898, the US declared war on Spain to aid the Cuban insurgency against Spanish colonial oppression. The Cuban insurgency had been raging for many years, but the US entrance into the domestic conflict meant that they were also co-belligerents of the Cuban insurgency. There was no American neutrality to be preserved and thus the conflict widened beyond a domestic conflict into a full-fledged war.
On April 20, 1898, the Teller Resolution promised Cuba independence and thus the US was obligating itself to a Cuban republic. With the establishment of the US Military Government on Cuba, it became the principle occupying authority. The Treaty of Paris had Spain cede Cuba to the occupying government, not any Cuban republic. US Congress signed the Platt Amendment on March 2, 1901, and the Republic of Cuba gained formal independence on May 20, 1902.
After the Cuban Revolution in 1959, relations between the US and Cuba deteriorated, and on Jan. 3, 1961, the US withdrew diplomatic recognition of the Cuban government.
On Oct. 22, 1962, then-US president John F. Kennedy notified Americans about the presence of Russian nuclear missiles, explained his decision to enact a naval blockade around Cuba and made it clear that the US was prepared to use military force if necessary to neutralize this perceived threat to national security. A disaster was avoided when the US agreed to then-Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev’s offer to remove the missiles in exchange for a US promise not to invade Cuba. Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove US missiles from Turkey.
On Dec. 17, US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced the beginning of a process to normalize relations between the US and Cuba. It ends 53 years of hostile relations. The announcement has been welcomed and supported by most Americans and Cubans.
Cuba’s 109,884km2 of territory is about three times larger than Taiwan. Taiwan’s population of more than 23 million is about twice that of Cuba. The two nations share an almost identical history, being relinquished by a peace treaty to the US Military Government.
Even today, the US military is still the principal occupying power of Taiwan under Articles 4b and 23 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty. Taiwanese are happy for the Cuban restoration of diplomatic recognition by the US, but they are sorry that Taiwan’s status is continually ignored by Washington.
On June 27, 1950, then-US president Harry Truman issued a statement that ended with: “The determination of the future status of Formosa [Taiwan] must await the restoration of security in the Pacific, a peace settlement with Japan, or consideration by the United Nations.”
Peace with Japan was settled in 1952, but the San Francisco treaty’s designation of the US military as the temporary sovereign of Taiwan remains unchanged.
The Three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act are repeatedly quoted as US policy on the Taiwan issue. The US has clearly separated China and Taiwan on written documents. The “one China” issue is now China’s issue. The Taiwan Relations Act says Taiwan is not the Republic of China (ROC). Unfortunately, most Taiwanese still think Taiwan is the ROC and the ROC is Taiwan. That illusion has trapped Taiwan, excluding it from UN membership and making it the sole political orphan in the international community.
Public opinion was made clear at last month’s nine-in-one elections. Hopefully, the younger generation can look in-depth at the core issue of Taiwan’s international status. It is time to clearly separate Taiwan from the ROC and Taiwan from China. And Obama needs to be reminded that the US has unfinished business in Taiwan. Hopefully, he can fix it before his presidency ends.
John Hsieh
Hayward, California
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