Traditionally, recognition in international law, when limited to bilateral affairs, is either express or implied.
Express recognition is when heads of state, foreign ministers or special emissaries of both sides address it in unambiguous, written form, as a joint statement, treaty or formal letter.
Implied recognition is shown through the establishment of an embassy; when both parties engage in official diplomatic contact in the capital of a third country or in an international organization, especially the UN; or by sending a special diplomatic mission to discuss matters of mutual benefit.
Implied recognition can be expressed through collective activity, either directly or indirectly, such as when countries issue a joint statement expressing intent of recognition or when a country joins an international organization in which members are individual countries.
However, collective recognition remains controversial.
Consequently, it is not difficult to see why China is hell-bent on suppressing any suggestion of implied recognition for Taiwan.
In 2018, the new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) building and the US’ Taiwan Travel Act not only set out the legal arrangements for substantiating high-level US official visits to Taiwan, they also implied recognition.
On Aug. 9, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar arrived in Taiwan to discuss Taiwan’s pandemic response and the issue of vaccines.
On Aug. 31, the AIT declassified diplomatic cables pertaining to US arms sales to Taiwan and the “six assurances” that complement the US’ Taiwan Relations Act and the Three Communiques. The possibility of a visit to Taiwan by a US undersecretary of state to hold trade talks with the government is part of this.
On Aug. 30, Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil arrived in Taiwan with a delegation for a six-day visit. Beijing instructed Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅), in Europe on a charm offensive, to hit back, which he did, making threats against the Czech Republic.
In a rare event, several European politicians pushed back, saying that there was no place for Wang’s threats.
The times, it seems, are a-changing.
On Tuesday last week, speaking in Mandarin to the Legislative Yuan, Vystrcil said: “I am Taiwanese.” The media associated this with the 1963 speech delivered in Berlin by then-US president John F. Kennedy, when he said: “Ich bin ein Berliner.”
It overlooked that Kennedy was referring to “civis Romanus sum,” or “I am a Roman citizen,” a phrase that evokes the special rights to the protection of the empire conferred on all its citizens, guarantees of freedom from enslavement.
Kennedy’s words were also meant to loosen the shackles that had been placed on West Germany after its defeat in World War II.
The day after Vystrcil’s proclamation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the word “Taiwan” was to be displayed more prominently on the new passport, with the name Republic of China encircling the national emblem.
Few mentioned that the wheel-shaped logo looks increasingly similar to the emblem representing the individual states of the US; neither did anyone acknowledge that it was the anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender to the Allies on Sept. 2, 1945.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said recently she believed that she would be remembered for her economic policy. At the risk of impertinence, the president is mistaken: She is selling herself short.
Her legacy will be how she has, in these turbulent times, consolidated Taiwan’s sovereignty and established its international status.
HoonTing is a political commentator.
Translated by Paul Cooper
Could Asia be on the verge of a new wave of nuclear proliferation? A look back at the early history of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, illuminates some reasons for concern in the Indo-Pacific today. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin recently described NATO as “the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” but the organization’s early years were not without challenges. At its inception, the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty marked a sea change in American strategic thinking. The United States had been intent on withdrawing from Europe in the years following
My wife and I spent the week in the interior of Taiwan where Shuyuan spent her childhood. In that town there is a street that functions as an open farmer’s market. Walk along that street, as Shuyuan did yesterday, and it is next to impossible to come home empty-handed. Some mangoes that looked vaguely like others we had seen around here ended up on our table. Shuyuan told how she had bought them from a little old farmer woman from the countryside who said the mangoes were from a very old tree she had on her property. The big surprise
The issue of China’s overcapacity has drawn greater global attention recently, with US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen urging Beijing to address its excess production in key industries during her visit to China last week. Meanwhile in Brussels, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen last week said that Europe must have a tough talk with China on its perceived overcapacity and unfair trade practices. The remarks by Yellen and Von der Leyen come as China’s economy is undergoing a painful transition. Beijing is trying to steer the world’s second-largest economy out of a COVID-19 slump, the property crisis and
As former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrapped up his visit to the People’s Republic of China, he received his share of attention. Certainly, the trip must be seen within the full context of Ma’s life, that is, his eight-year presidency, the Sunflower movement and his failed Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, as well as his eight years as Taipei mayor with its posturing, accusations of money laundering, and ups and downs. Through all that, basic questions stand out: “What drives Ma? What is his end game?” Having observed and commented on Ma for decades, it is all ironically reminiscent of former US president Harry