The idea that Taiwan is not a part of China finds its roots in international law, in the form of the San Francisco Peace Treaty. The treaty also constitutes legal proof refuting the pro-unification camp's assertion that, since ancient times, Taiwan has always belonged to China. Since its signing on Sept. 8, 1951, there has existed an intimate association between Taiwan and the treaty, which has exerted a huge influence on relations across the Taiwan Strait.
In his article State, Sovereignty and Taiwan (published in Fordham International Law Journal, volume 23, 2000) Fordham University law professor Y. Frank Chiang (江永芳) writes that the Ching Dynasty (1644-1911), the ROC of 50 years ago and today's PRC were merely three successive governments in modern Chinese history.
These three governments do not, however, represent three distinct, independent nations, Chiang argues. The ROC inherited the international debt left behind by the Ching imperial regime and the PRC took the ROC's UN seat in 1971 while "China" never changed its name.
From these two facts one can see that Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) and Mao Zedong (毛澤東) merely replaced existing governments, and did not actually establish new nations.
Upon being overthrown by Sun, the Ching government lost both its territory and people, and was thus relegated to the dustbin of history. When the ROC government was driven off Chinese territory by the Chinese Communist Party, it likewise lost its territory and people.
The difference between the two is that the ROC had the benefit of luck (the Japanese defeat in World War II), geographical position (Taiwan) and connections (World War II allies). The ROC was eventually entrusted by the World War II allied powers with control of Taiwan, which it has maintained to this day. Thus, during the past 50 years of its occupation of Taiwan, the ROC has never had "legal" claim to Taiwan and its people. What exists today is merely the continuation of a "circumstantial" role proper to the title of ROC, supported only by ethnic sentiment.
In retrospect, during the period 1945 to 1949, if Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) hadn't lost China, and Japan had still surrendered to allied forces in August 1945, the proclamation "Taiwan is hereby returned to the ROC" would surely have been included in the San Francisco Peace Treaty signed six years later. Clearly, at that time, the people of Taiwan felt that being returned to China was perfectly reasonable, and even rejoiced at the prospect.
Unfortunately, Chiang's KMT lost the Chinese civil war. Then, in 1950, during the Korean War, the PRC entered North Korea, becoming an enemy of the UN allied forces. By this time, China had already become "Communist China." The San Francisco treaty was signed the following year by the US and 49 other World War II allies.
The treaty contradicted the consensus expressed in the Cairo and Potsdam declarations, which were issued before Japan's surrender, and accepted only Japan's formal renouncement of Formosa and the Pescadores (ie Taiwan and the Penghu Islands). No mention was made in the treaty of allowing Japan to cede Taiwan to any other nations, the purpose of the omission being to prevent Taiwan from falling into the evil hands of "Communist China."
The USSR, China and India never signed the treaty, so actually, following Japan's renouncement of Taiwan, the question of which nation Taiwan belongs to had nothing whatsoever to do with them.
In 1895 the Japanese had come to take over Taiwan and lord over its people. Indignant with the Ching prime minister who simply gave Taiwan away to the Japan-ese without consulting the Tai-wanese officials, local volunteers courageously fought back with "bamboo poles mounted with kitchen knives."
By contrast, in 1945, when the demoralized ROC army began coming ashore from China, an outpouring of praise from the people of Taiwan echoed throughout the island.
Unfortunately, the unexpected 228 Incident and 38 years of "white terror" martial law rule have caused those days of unbridled euphoria to gradually devolve into the chaos that persists today, even one year after Taiwan's first peaceful political transition. Important figures in Taiwan, those among both the old and new immigrants, only know how to bicker and hurl insults, and nothing of working together toward the goal of establishing a de jure statehood.
The San Francisco treaty easily proves that Taiwan's international status remains undefined. Amid all the heated debate that has occurred regarding the "Taiwan question," 50 years of history have already vanished.
While the past is gone, however, the future is still within our grasp. Now is the time to take a fresh look at the situation!
Ever since Taiwan was ceded to Japan in 1895 under the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, it has never belonged to China. It is most important that the Taiwan government inform society about this historical fact and strive to encourage vigorous debate.
Taitzer Wang is a member of the Southern Society of Taiwan as well as the North American Taiwanese Professors' Association.
Translated by Scudder Smith
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