The succession of states is a situation under international law in which one state is replaced by another in its rights over the administration and governance of a territory, but above all, when the “successor” state assumes the responsibilities of the “predecessor” state with regard to its international relations and its obligations with other states.
The Vienna Convention on the Succession of States — which was concluded in 1978, but did not enter into force until Nov. 6, 1996 — regulates the responsibilities assumed by a successor state toward the rest of the world and international treaties concluded by its predecessor.
Based on non-retroactivity, as this instrument regulating the succession of states only came into force in 1996, no country may claim to argue facts prior to the entry into force of such a treaty, regarding matters within the jurisdiction of national states when there is a dispute of the interpretation.
Given this situation, the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) argument that UN General Assembly Resolution No. 2758 — passed on Oct. 26, 1971, to address the representation of China in the global body — settles its claims over Taiwan does not hold water. The resolution does not mention Taiwan as a legal person, as it is already an established entity that had all the legal elements required under international law to be considered an international legal person.
Taiwan meets the four qualifications for statehood established in the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states.
The PRC was founded on Oct. 1, 1949. In 1952, following the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco between Japan and the 48 nations allied on behalf of the UN, the Treaty of Taipei was signed at the Taipei Guest House, formally ending the state of war between the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) and Japan. Article 2 of the Treaty of Taipei recognized that under the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan had renounced all rights, title and claims to Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores) as well as the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島) and the Paracel Islands (Xisha Islands, 西沙群島).
In other words, the jurisdiction and possession of these territories were received by the ROC.
All this clearly leads to the following conclusions:
First, Taiwan was never under the sovereignty of the PRC, as the PRC was founded in 1949, well after Taiwan was under the jurisdiction of the ROC.
Second, UN Resolution 2758 makes no mention of the sovereignty of Taiwan, and it is not possible to argue historical facts prior to the Treaty of San Francisco, as there was no international treaty regulating the matter.
Third, the ROC complies with all the requirements established by the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States.
Fourth, since 1996, when Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), the first Taiwan-born head of the nation, became the first president elected by popular vote, Taiwan has grown into one of the most dynamic democracies in Asia, where full freedom and the exercise of the rule of law prevails.
Under the criterion of the universality of rights, Taiwanese cannot be deprived of the rights enshrined in all international human rights agreements.
There is no doubt that history judges and gives reason on the basis of legal arguments, not facts based on force, hence the legal saying that international law must be governed by the force of law, not by the law of force.
Carlos Jose Fleitas Rodriguez is the Paraguayan ambassador to the Republic of China (Taiwan).
On May 7, 1971, Henry Kissinger planned his first, ultra-secret mission to China and pondered whether it would be better to meet his Chinese interlocutors “in Pakistan where the Pakistanis would tape the meeting — or in China where the Chinese would do the taping.” After a flicker of thought, he decided to have the Chinese do all the tape recording, translating and transcribing. Fortuitously, historians have several thousand pages of verbatim texts of Dr. Kissinger’s negotiations with his Chinese counterparts. Paradoxically, behind the scenes, Chinese stenographers prepared verbatim English language typescripts faster than they could translate and type them
More than 30 years ago when I immigrated to the US, applied for citizenship and took the 100-question civics test, the one part of the naturalization process that left the deepest impression on me was one question on the N-400 form, which asked: “Have you ever been a member of, involved in or in any way associated with any communist or totalitarian party anywhere in the world?” Answering “yes” could lead to the rejection of your application. Some people might try their luck and lie, but if exposed, the consequences could be much worse — a person could be fined,
Xiaomi Corp founder Lei Jun (雷軍) on May 22 made a high-profile announcement, giving online viewers a sneak peek at the company’s first 3-nanometer mobile processor — the Xring O1 chip — and saying it is a breakthrough in China’s chip design history. Although Xiaomi might be capable of designing chips, it lacks the ability to manufacture them. No matter how beautifully planned the blueprints are, if they cannot be mass-produced, they are nothing more than drawings on paper. The truth is that China’s chipmaking efforts are still heavily reliant on the free world — particularly on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Last week, Nvidia chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) unveiled the location of Nvidia’s new Taipei headquarters and announced plans to build the world’s first large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputer in Taiwan. In Taipei, Huang’s announcement was welcomed as a milestone for Taiwan’s tech industry. However, beneath the excitement lies a significant question: Can Taiwan’s electricity infrastructure, especially its renewable energy supply, keep up with growing demand from AI chipmaking? Despite its leadership in digital hardware, Taiwan lags behind in renewable energy adoption. Moreover, the electricity grid is already experiencing supply shortages. As Taiwan’s role in AI manufacturing expands, it is critical that
RSS