National Taiwan University law professor Chiang Huang-chih (姜皇池) on Tuesday warned of the serious damage that could result from signing a peace accord with China, saying that doing so is not in Taiwan’s interests.
The international law expert said in an interview that signing a cross-strait peace accord would be tantamount to accepting that Taiwan is part of China, which could lead to US arms sales being considered interference in China’s internal affairs and thereby undermine the international legitimacy of such sales.
US lawmakers passed the Taiwan Relations Act to supply arms to Taiwan in 1979, the same year that Washington switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing.
Agreements and treaties are signed by sovereign nations and are considered legally binding in terms of international law, while peace accords are signed by parties to a war within a state, thereby falling under the category of domestic law, Chiang said.
If the two sides were to sign a peace accord, it would imply that Taipei acknowledges that current cross-strait relations are a continuation of the Chinese Civil War between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), he said.
By extension, that would make it an internal political matter for China, leading to the acknowledgment that Taiwan is part of China, he added.
In the event of armed conflict between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, any country that intervened would risk contravening international law, so international organizations would only become involved if the conflict resulted in serious casualties, a humanitarian crisis, or threatened regional peace and security, Chiang said.
In addition, there is no guarantee that signing a peace accord with China would help Taiwan avoid a war, he said, adding that the ceasefire agreement signed in 1946 by the KMT and the CCP failed to end the civil war.
It is important to consider whether a peace accord would really meet the needs of Taiwanese, Raymond Sung (宋承恩), an international law academic and deputy executive at the Taiwan New Constitution Foundation, said on Monday.
Sung also questioned the necessity of signing a peace accord.
The threat to peace in Taiwan comes from the other side of the Taiwan Strait, he said.
Beijing should stop threatening Taipei with its military, which could be achieved without signing any agreement, he added.
Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations is more important than a peace accord at this moment, Sung said.
The academics’ comments came after KMT Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) on Thursday last week said that the KMT would consider signing a peace accord with Beijing if it regains the presidency next year.
Taiwan should not sign a peace accord with China, as it is the least friendly nation toward Taiwan, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said on Tuesday.
Taiwanese have great doubts about a peace accord with China, especially after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) spoke about unification based on the “one country, two systems” model, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said.
A bill to subject any peace accord with China to a referendum was one of 47 bills the Democratic Progressive Party on Monday agreed to prioritize for review during the legislative session, which began on Friday last week.
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
TECH PROGRAM: A US official said that an important part of the delegation’s trip would be to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co executives The US is to send officials in charge of chip development to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea to promote cooperation in the global semiconductor supply chain, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. Chips Program Office Director Michael Schmidt announced the visit, which marks the first time officials from the office are to visit the three nations since it was set up in September last year. “As semiconductors and technologies continue to evolve, the United States will keep working with allies and partners to develop coordinated strategies to ensure that malign actors cannot use the latest technologies to undermine our collective
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
ORIGIN UNKNOWN: The Leofoo Village Theme Park and Taipei Zoo have accounted for their baboons, as authorities continue a 12-day capture attempt Authorities in Taoyuan are searching for a non-native baboon, possibly of the chacma species, that has been spotted several times in the city’s Pingjhen District (平鎮) over the past 12 days, and was most recently seen in coastal Sinwu District (新屋). The baboon was first spotted near a local factory on March 10 in central Taoyuan, Jhensing Borough Warden Huang Chih-chieh (黃志杰) said. Huang said he requested the Leofoo Village Theme Park’s help after a second sighting on Saturday. In other sightings, the baboon raided fruit and vegetable gardens on private property, and has evaded one capture attempt via a tranquilizer dart. Media reported
RSS