Taiwanese must discard the imposed colonial regime of the Republic of China (ROC) and establish a state of “Taiwan” that can protect the nation from Chinese invasion, Sovereign State for Formosa and the Pescadores Party Chairman Cheng Tzu-tsai (鄭自才) said on Monday.
He had to speak up on the issue of Taiwanese sovereignty and Taiwan’s international status after former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and several pro-China academics wrote about disputes in school textbooks dealing with Taiwan’s history, Cheng said.
“It is a fact that Taiwan remains under its ‘undetermined status,’ which is well-known in the international community,” Cheng told a seminar at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
“The allies after World War II did not ‘return’ Taiwan to be ruled by Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] regime. It was a fabrication about the KMT’s claim over Taiwan’s retrocession to China,” he said.
The best recourse for residents of Taiwan and the Penghu Islands is to follow the international accords in the post-World War II period on decolonization, and hold a plebiscite on self-determination to achieve statehood, as had happened in many countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Pacific, Cheng said.
Ma and pro-China academics have written letters criticizing two publishing houses over textbooks that mention the “undetermined status of Taiwan,” which Ma said was “nonsense.”
Cheng provided photocopied materials and historic documents from US and other nations to support his claim that the Allies had only given temporary custody of Taiwan and Penghu to the KMT regime, while the legal status was not spelled out, and the residents have the right to a plebiscite for self-determination.
He said that Japan signed the 1951 San Francisco Treaty only renouncing all right, title, and claim to Taiwan and Penghu without explicitly deciding on the sovereignty status of the two territories.
Taiwan historian Huang Sheng-feng (黃聖峰) said that many Taiwanese independence advocates are unhappy with the stance taken by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of maintaining the “status quo” by upholding the ROC political framework, which would mean Beijing can lay claim to Taiwan and the Penghu Islands.
“The best recourse is to follow the international laws and conduct a plebiscite for self-determination, by which the people of Taiwan and Penghu can declare to the world their decision to become a new Taiwan nation. This is the way for us to achieve statehood, and deter military invasion and annexation by China,” Huang said.
Cheng, 82, is a senior figure in the Taiwanese independence movement.
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard
BOOST TO SPORTS? The Executive Yuan said that the amendment was introduced to attract professionals to Taiwan, and increase the incentives for naturalization The Legislative Yuan yesterday passed on third reading an amendment to the Nationality Act (國籍法) that would reduce the minimum residency period required for highly skilled professionals to apply for naturalization from three to two continuous years, with a minimum of 183 days in Taiwan each year. The 183-day requirement does not apply if an eligible applicant has lived legally in the territory of the Republic of China for more than five continuous years. Taiwan’s professional basketball leagues are expected to benefit from the amendments, which would allow them to recruit more players from overseas. Prior to the passage of the amendment, the
Germany sent two warships to the Indo-Pacific region on Tuesday in a bid to strengthen its military presence in the region amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea. Those tensions were putting pressure on the freedom of navigation and free passage on trade routes, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said at the northern German navy base in Wilhelmshaven. Some 40% of Europe’s foreign trade flows through the South China Sea. “Looking the other way, showing no presence in the Indo-Pacific in support of the international rules-based order, that’s not an option for Germany,” he told reporters before