Searching for a symbol
At first reading it seems hard to dispute a hearty call to wave the national flag as a way to promote a sense of patriotism among the readers of this newspaper. However, after some careful research and reflection, I feel I must object to the comments made in Chang Shin-ping’s recent letter (Letter, Nov. 23, page 8).
Looking at the historical and legal record, it is an indisputable fact that when the Republic of China’s (ROC) government moved to Taiwan in December 1949,Taiwan was still a part of the empire of Japan. US General Douglas MacArthur later clarified this in a congressional hearing in May 1951.
The interpretation that the surrender of Japanese troops in Taiwan on Oct. 25, 1945, amounted to the transfer of Taiwan’s territorial sovereignty to China is impossible under international law. Indeed, none of the Allies recognized any such transfer. Oct. 25, 1945, only marked the beginning of the military occupation of Taiwan, and international law clearly states that “Military occupation does not transfer sovereignty.”
By moving outside of China’s national territory, the ROC became a government in exile as of December 1949. There has been no change in this status to date.
Some would argue that the ROC on Taiwan certainly appears to meet all of the Montevideo Convention’s criteria for statehood. However, in fact, all of its “qualifying criteria” are bogus: It exercises effective territorial control over Formosa and the Pescadores, but there has been no official transfer of title; the native Taiwanese population was mass-naturalized as ROC citizens in 1946, based on the false premise of “Taiwan Retrocession Day,” and in direct violation of the Hague Convention’s stipulations regarding the treatment of the populace of occupied territory: It has a government, but it is a government in exile, etc.
Based on the above, I must conclude that in the world today: “Taiwan” is a geographical term and there is no country in the world called the “Republic of Taiwan” (or anything similar), with its own government, population, etc. The ROC flag is not the flag of Taiwan and as a government in exile, the ROC does not exercise sovereignty over Taiwan, but only a high degree of territorial control.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will no doubt take exception to the above and point out that the issuance of ROC passports is the act of a sovereign state. However, I must mention that in a March 18, 2008, District Court Decision in Washington, in Roger Lin versus USA, the judge held that native Taiwanese are essentially stateless. The ministry has yet to offer any “official rebuttal” to the judge’s conclusion in that important lawsuit.
One might wonder what symbol can be used to connect Taiwanese around the world. I do not have the answer to that question, but I am sure that it is not the flag of the ROC government in exile.
Chen Meng-chao
New Taipei City
As China’s economy was meant to drive global economic growth this year, its dramatic slowdown is sounding alarm bells across the world, with economists and experts criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) for his unwillingness or inability to respond to the nation’s myriad mounting crises. The Wall Street Journal reported that investors have been calling on Beijing to take bolder steps to boost output — especially by promoting consumer spending — but Xi has deep-rooted philosophical objections to Western-style consumption-driven growth, seeing it as wasteful and at odds with his goal of making China a world-leading industrial and technological powerhouse, and
For Xi Jinping (習近平) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the military conquest of Taiwan is an absolute requirement for the CCP’s much more fantastic ambition: control over our solar system. Controlling Taiwan will allow the CCP to dominate the First Island Chain and to better neutralize the Philippines, decreasing the threat to the most important People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Strategic Support Force (SSF) space base, the Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on Hainan Island. Satellite and manned space launches from the Jiuquan and Xichang Satellite Launch Centers regularly pass close to Taiwan, which is also a very serious threat to the PLA,
During a news conference in Vietnam on Sept. 10, a reporter asked US President Joe Biden about the possibility of China invading Taiwan. Biden replied that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is too busy handling major domestic economic problems to launch an invasion of Taiwan. On Wednesday last week, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office published a document outlining 21 measures to make the Chinese-controlled Fujian Province into a demonstration zone for relations with Taiwan. The planned measures would expand favorable treatment for Taiwanese people and companies, and seek to attract people from Taiwan to buy property and seek employment in Fujian.
More than 100 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) vessels and aircraft were detected making incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Sunday and Monday, the Ministry of National Defense reported on Monday. The ministry responded to the incursions by calling on China to “immediately stop such destructive unilateral actions,” saying that Beijing’s actions could “easily lead to a sharp escalation in tensions and worsen regional security.” Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the unusually high number of incursions over such a short time was likely Beijing’s response to efforts