The senior director for East Asian affairs at the US National Security Council (NSC), Dennis Wilder, has said that Taiwan, or the Republic of China (ROC), is not a state in the international community. US State Department officials from the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs have said Wilder's words are consistent with long-term US policy on Taiwan's statehood. This is not new to those who understand a bit about Taiwan's international position. Instead, it serves as a warning to those who believe that only an absolute faith in the legitimacy of the ROC will allow Taiwan to survive in the international community.
Emotions aside, the US government has indeed exposed the "inconvenient truth" regarding the uncertainty surrounding the issue of Taiwan's sovereignty: That the issue is undecided and has been left undecided for years. The dispute between the pan-green and pan-blue camps over Taiwan's statehood is nothing new.
Seemingly ruthless criticism from the US on Taiwan's pursuit of democracy has provided the Taiwanese with a great opportunity to look at our history and to move toward the right future. We should cool down and think about who we really are.
The Treaty of San Francisco that Japan signed with 48 nations in 1951 and the Treaty of Peace between the ROC and Japan in 1952 clearly stated that Taiwan's statehood was left undefined. While many support the idea that Taiwan has a legal relationship with China, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs confirmed -- after verifying with an official at the Records Services at the US National Archives -- that the 1943 Cairo Declaration that several Chinese officials have used as a basis to bolster their "one China" claims is not legally binding.
There is nothing shameful about admitting that Taiwan's international status is undetermined. On the contrary, it gives us a reason to make our nation a "normal country."
With a presidential election approaching, neither the pan-green camp nor the pan-blue camp is willing at this point to face history honestly, because if they admit that Taiwan's sovereignty is uncertain, they also deny the legitimacy of the election. The Taiwanese might be able to understand this conflict for the time being because of Taiwan's special historical background.
However, do the Taiwanese have a right to demand their future leaders to explicitly promise that Taiwan's statehood will still be undefined in five or even 10 years? The pro-independence pan-green camp probably cannot get away with this question.
The US has declared its position on Taiwan's statehood. Even though this has lifted the veil covering an embarrassing truth, it could serve as a turning point for Taiwanese to unify. This hot potato is a test of the intelligence of Taiwanese politicians.
Liu Shun-Ming is a policy planner at the Government Information Office.
Translated by Ted Yang
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