President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) Double Ten National Day address was meant to highlight that the Republic of China (ROC) in Taiwan has been shaped by various forerunners, Academia Historica President Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深) said, after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) accused Tsai of contravening the Constitution.
In her speech on Oct. 10, Tsai said that “the Republic of China came to Taiwan in 1949, 72 years ago,” and called on people to adhere to four commitments.
“Let us here renew with one another our enduring commitment to a free and democratic constitutional system, our commitment that the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China [PRC] should not be subordinate to each other, our commitment to resist annexation or encroachment upon our sovereignty, and our commitment that the future of the Republic of China [Taiwan] must be decided in accordance with the will of Taiwanese,” she said.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT accused Tsai of contravening the Constitution for describing the ROC and the PRC as not being subordinate to each other, while KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said Tsai promoted Taiwanese independence by implying that the ROC’s history was only 72 years, rather than 110 years.
Chen said Ma’s concept of the Constitution in which the ROC territory encompasses mainland China has been rejected by Beijing.
The “free area” of the ROC, as stated in the Additional Articles of the Constitution, indicates that the nation’s territory applies to Taiwan and the outlying Penghu and Kinmen counties, as well as Matsu, and has been de jure decoupled from China’s, he said.
When the ROC retreated to Taiwan in 1949, most international law or political history experts treated it as a government-in-exile, he said.
After the ROC lost its UN membership in 1971, the international community no longer regarded the nation as representing China, which was why former president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國) sought changes to protect Taiwan, he said.
After that, the ROC government was no longer considered a government-in-exile, although its rule over Taiwan was still deemed a military occupation, he said.
The 1991 legislative elections can be considered to have opened a new chapter for the ROC’s history in Taiwan, or its “rebirth,” Chen said.
Democracy and independence used to be two separate concepts for the nation, but following democratic elections, Taiwan was no longer ruled by a foreign regime, he said.
As such, Tsai as president has inherited the history of the ROC in Taiwan, Chen said.
Her National Day address described the formation of a community that has accommodated people arriving in Taiwan at different points in history, regardless of their political affiliations, he said.
That is also why Tsai also mentioned the 823 Artillery Bombardment in 1958, when Taiwanese were conscripted to fight for the nation in Kinmen, he said, adding that the battle was not part of a civil war.
During the bombardment, the US also assisted Taiwan’s defense by transporting artillery pieces from Okinawa, Japan, to Zuoying, Kaohsiung, he said.
Instructed by then-president Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), Chiang Ching-kuo supervised the weapons’ delivery from Kaohsiung to Penghu and then to Kinmen, which conveyed the message that the nation’s patron had arrived on the front lines, he said.
Since the Chinese Communist Party founded the PRC in 1949, it has never governed Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen or Matsu for even one second, Chen said.
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