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
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