Sovereignty misunderstood
Both John Hsieh and those who think that the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) — known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan — somehow “belong” to Taiwan seem to misunderstand the concept of sovereignty (Letter, Feb. 15, page 8, and “Presidential Office blasts Lee over Diaoyutais claim,” Feb. 18, page 3).
Sovereignty is not something that exists on the basis of a few old maps, wartime statements of intent (for example, the Cairo Declaration), or the stories of fishermen — or, as Presidential Office spokesman Charles Chen (陳以信) put it with regard to the Diaoyutais: “location, geological composition, relevant historical evidence.”
All of those things are ultimately irrelevant. Sovereignty is essentially authority that is exercised, and it is done so in the present.
Chen also added a fourth point: “international law.”
The only point relevant under international law as far as sovereignty is concerned is the exercise of authority. The choice is for other sovereign states to recognize that sovereignty — or not. Recognition or otherwise alone is unlikely to change the facts of the matter. Tibetans and the people of Crimea would likely testify to this sharp end of any talk about sovereignty.
The reality is that Japan was the first and only nation to exercise sovereignty over the Diaoyutais — and still do. Taiwan certainly never has, and neither has China. Recognizing this reality is not the “humiliation” Chen would have Taiwanese believe, but it is misguided to believe the reverse.
Japan might have formally surrendered sovereignty over Taiwan in 1951, but by then, the Republic of China (ROC) had already taken over the island — not, as Hsieh claimed, the US military.
It does not really matter on what basis the ROC did so, or whether it had any right, because the ROC’s sovereignty over Taiwan was never then seriously challenged and has never been seriously challenged in the nearly 70 years since. If for political reasons no nation recognizes either the Beijing or Taipei governments, that does not change the reality of two distinct governments exercising sovereignty over two distinct areas.
So here is another point about sovereignty and democracy, again one that seems to be often misunderstood. In a democracy, the people are ultimately recognized as sovereign. For Taiwan to be truly democratic, it needs to exercise its right to national self-determination —in essence, the recognition of the sovereignty of the Taiwanese people over Taiwan.
This right is enshrined in Article 2 of the UN Charter, but it is given full force and significance by the people themselves in the act of exercising self-determination. Of course, no one is pretending that it would be easy, given the balance of power internationally. However, contrary to Hsieh’s claim, one option is that Taiwanese could state their intentions by redefining the ROC Constitution to cover just Taiwan, Penghu, Matsu and Kinmen, leaving aside Mongolia, Tibet and China, and the other assorted islands that the ROC currently lays claim to. Far from more confusion, with the abandoning of the “one China” shibboleth, there is every reason to think that there could be far less confusion.
Paul Clements
Taipei
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