Supporters of Taiwan in Taipei assert that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has no authority to represent Taiwan. Some say the Cairo Declaration is not a treaty and lacks legal standing — in other words, it should be ignored. Others say that Japan gave up control over Taiwan and Penghu in the San Francisco Peace Treaty, but never stipulated to whom Taiwan’s sovereignty would be transferred, meaning Taiwan’s status is undetermined.
However, both arguments are outdated and should be revised based on new information.
First, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has previously ruled that all international agreements are legally binding — this means that the Cairo Declaration has legal effect. However, the Cairo Declaration does not involve Taiwan. This was clearly explained by the declaration’s drafter, then-UK prime minister Winston Churchill, on Feb. 1, 1955. The Academia Historica’s archives about the Cairo communique also state as much.
Second, the San Francisco Peace Treaty did stipulate that Japan would give up its power over Taiwan and Penghu islands — referred to in the treaty as “Formosa and the Pescadores” — but it did not indicate to whom sovereignty over Taiwan would be transferred. This was pointed out by its drafter, former US secretary of state John Foster Dulles, when he explained the treaty article by article on Sept. 5, 1951.
However, Dulles proposed a solution: the UN Charter of 1945. According to Article 77 of the charter, “territories which may be detached from enemy states as a result of the Second World War” would be placed under the UN trusteeship. As stated in Article 76, the objective of the trusteeship system is “to promote the political, economic, social, and educational advancement of the inhabitants of the trust territories, and their progressive development towards self-government or independence” — therefore, Taiwan’s status is not “undetermined.”
The preamble of the San Francisco Peace Treaty states that Japan must “in all circumstances conform to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.”
When discussing the treaty in his speech at the San Francisco Peace Conference, Dulles said: “The preamble is an important part of the treaty.”
So, Taiwan’s status — according to the UN Charter — is independence, not undetermined.
Sim Kiantek is a former associate professor of business administration at National Chung Hsing University.
Translated by Kyra Gustavsen
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