Local politicians, advisors and scholars frequently use the San Francisco Peace Treaty as a rallying point when urging the government and public to recognize the country as "Taiwan."
The San Francisco Peace Treaty was signed 50 years ago by the defeated Japanese government and the 51 allies led by the US in San Francisco on Sept. 8, 1951, six years after World War II came to an end.
The treaty was then activated the next year.
Neither the People's Republic of China (PRC) nor the Republic of China (ROC) was represented at the treaty-signing ceremony, which was held at the city's War Memorial Opera House.
Japan signed the peace treaty along with 48 of the 51 countries represented and announced that Japan would give up all its sovereignty over Taiwan, Penghu and all its other offshore islands.
"Significantly, according to the treaty, Taiwan did not belong to any other country, not even the PRC or the ROC," said Chen Lung-chu (陳隆志), president and CEO of the Taiwan New Century Foundation (台灣新世紀文教基金會), which also serves as a domestic think tank.
"It is so clear that Taiwan's future belongs to its residents instead of any foreign government," added Chen.
"As a result, we totally disagree with the Chinese government's `one-China' policy, which says that Taiwan is a part of its territory."
Chen indicated that the ROC troops took the order from General Douglas McArthur, who was the commander-in-chief of the Far East War Zone, to take over Taiwan when the Japanese lost World War II and evacuated the island in 1945.
"It's a military occupation, not a declaration of sovereignty," added Chen.
Regarding the public's limited knowledge of the San Francisco Peace Treaty, scholars suggested the government should add this historical treaty into the country's textbooks.
During the White Terror era, the authorities did not allow Taiwanese residents to learn about the treaty because it did not award sovereignty of Taiwan to the ROC government.
"It's a treaty, not an announcement," said Huang Chao-tang (
"A treaty means it's an international law which is recognized by many countries in the world. Of course our citizens should have been informed about what was going on," he said.
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