“From the legal standpoint, Taiwan is not part of the Republic of China,” a declassified CIA report on Taiwan written in March 1949 says.
“Pending a Japanese peace treaty, the island remains occupied territory in which the US has proprietary interests,” the report continues.
The report says that communist control of the island would have “seriously unfavorable strategic implications” for the US.
It says that the native population of Taiwan would welcome release from Chinese control, but was not strong enough to stage a successful revolt.
“The Taiwanese are increasingly restive, however, because of the influx of Nationalist officials and military forces, and will become more susceptible to Communist influence,” the report says. Records show that the report, titled Probable Developments in Taiwan, was first declassified about 20 years ago and has since been gathering dust in the National Archives. It was unearthed this week by researchers who believe that it may not have been written about before.
“Assuming US inactivity, Taiwan will eventually pass under the control of the Chinese Communists,” the report says.
“In any US program to prevent this, the advantages to be gained from the strategic military viewpoint would have to be weighed against unfavorable political consequences, the extent of which would vary depending upon the selection and timing of measures for implementing the program,” the report says.
The CIA expected the early establishment of a communist-dominated government over all China and “it can be assumed that such a government would strive to establish its authority in Taiwan.”
When first written in 1949, the report was classified as “secret.”
“There is a strong sentiment in Taiwan favoring autonomy, but the situation is complicated by the conflicting interests of the native Taiwanese and Chinese Nationalist element,” the report says. “The Taiwanese bitterly resent the performance of the Nationalist administration on Taiwan since VJ [Victory over Japan]-day,” it adds.
According to the CIA, the Chinese rulers had exploited the native population “to the limit” without regard for their welfare or the preservation of the island’s resources. The report says that a Nationalist “rump government” on Taiwan could not be relied upon to prevent the communists from gaining control of the island.
“The Nationalist Army, Navy and Air Force are not only inefficient, but their loyalty and will to fight are questionable,” the report says. “In addition, such a refugee regime would be unstable because of the hostility of the local population which, in these circumstances, would be increasingly susceptible to Communist influence.”
The report concludes that the situation in Taiwan was growing more critical for the US because of Taiwanese discontent, Chinese Nationalist preparation of the island as “a last bastion” and increasing Chinese communist interest in, and capabilities toward, the island.
However, the strategic implications to US security of a takeover of Taiwan by China “would be seriously unfavorable,” it says.
IN A HURRY: The 199,200 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine expire on May 31, so the CECC might expand vaccine eligibility, but distribution would begin in a week at the earliest The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines allocated to Taiwan through the COVAX global vaccine-sharing program arrived yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said, adding that, after testing, it would be able to distribute them by Monday next week at the earliest. The 199,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were shipped from Amsterdam on a China Airlines (中華航空) plane and arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5:21am. After the cargo was examined and release procedures were completed at the airport, the Aviation Police Bureau escorted the vehicles carrying the vaccines to a cold chain storage facility. Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General
HEATED TRAFFIC: As Beijing holds naval drills near Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense said it had a full grasp of the situation and would handle it ‘appropriately’ A Chinese carrier group exercising near Taiwan is part of what are to be regular drills, the Chinese navy said in a statement late on Monday, further escalating tensions between Taipei and Beijing. The group, including the aircraft carrier Liaoning, was conducting “routine” drills in the waters around Taiwan, a move to “enhance its capability to safeguard national sovereignty, safety and development interests,” the statement said. “Similar exercises will be conducted regularly,” it said, without elaborating. The statement came after the Ministry of National Defense earlier on Monday issued a statement regarding a rise in the number of incursions by Chinese jets into
AIMED AT TAIWAN? Institute for National Defense and Security Research research fellow Ou Si-fu said chips can be ‘bought off the shelf’ and then used in weapons The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday said that chips from Taiwanese semiconductor companies were not making their way into Chinese missiles “to the best of our knowledge.” A report in yesterday’s Washington Post alleged that a Chinese company named Phytium Technology Co (飛騰) used chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), along with US software, in advanced Chinese military systems. “TSMC has long placed strict controls on their chips. The export of high-tech products from Taiwan is also highly regulated,” Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said. “According to our understanding, none of the end uses for those products
NO TIME: The driver tried to apply the brakes when he saw the truck, but the train did not have time to come to a full stop, an investigation report said The crane truck that caused last week’s fatal train accident had slid onto the tracks about one-and-a-half minutes before it was struck, the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board said yesterday. The board had launched an investigation into the derailment, which killed 50 people and injured 211 people, making it the nation’s most devastating railway accident in decades. Carrying 494 passengers and four Taiwan Railways Administration personnel, the southbound express train to Taitung hit the truck as it was about to enter the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien’s Sioulin Township (秀林). The train derailed following the collision, with the left side of the eighth
RSS