Taiwan "National Identity" Topics
With the inauguration of Ma Ying-jeou of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) as the new President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) on May 20, 2008, the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) eight years in office have come to an end.
President Ma, as a former Chairman of the KMT, fully supports his party's rule over Taiwan at the central, city, county, district, and other levels. He does not question for a moment the legality of the Republic of China's (ROC) administration of Taiwan, having stated on many occasions that "The Republic of China has been a sovereign independent nation since its founding in 1912."
However, a glace at the history books reveals that in 1912, Taiwan was part of Japan's national territory, having been ceded to Japan in the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki. Viewed in this light, the relevance of Mr. Ma's statement is puzzling. When exactly was Taiwan made part of the ROC? The following facts are important in attempting to answer this question:
- None of the Allies recognized any transfer of the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan to the ROC upon the Oct. 25, 1945, surrender of Japanese troops on the island, or on any previous date,
- Taiwan was not awarded to the ROC in the post war San Francisco Peace Treaty of April 28, 1952,
- Taiwan was not awarded to the ROC in the post war Treaty of Taipei of August 5, 1952,
- The procedures specified in Article 4 of the ROC Constitution for the incorporation of Taiwan into ROC national territory have never been completed,
- There has been no law passed in Taiwan in the post WWII period authorizing the mass naturalization of native Taiwanese people as ROC citizens.
Arguably, based on all the above facts, native Taiwanese people are not ROC citizens should not be carrying ROC passports.
Into the 21st Century
While some people would claim that "Here in the 21st century, it is far too late to enter into debates regarding the historical and legal details regarding Taiwan's status and the nationality of its native population," the organizers of the Taiwan Civil Government website feel otherwise.
Specifically, it is precisely due to the failure to recognize that "Taiwan" and the "Republic of China" are two separate entities, each of which has a distinctive international legal personality, which has resulted in Taiwan's continuing disappointments in the fields of international relations and regional cooperation. For example, with no consensus on the legal statuses of Taiwan or the ROC, no formula can be devised for participation in the United Nations (UN) or the World Health Organization (WHO). Taiwan's application for membership in the UN was rejected for the fifteenth time in the Fall of 2007. Taiwan failed for the twelfth consecutive year in its bid to join the WHO at the 61st World Health Assembly in May 2008.
What will President Ma do to regain respect for the Republic of China in the international community? In his 3,700-word inauguration speech entitled "People Arise, Taiwan Begins Anew," Ma will restated his commitment to a very ambiguous stance: "No unification and no independence," thus seeming to indicate that ROC/Taiwan is neither an independent nation nor a part of China. Behind the inauguration day rhetoric however, President Ma is known to be a strong supporter of Taiwan's eventual unification with the PRC.
The Taiwanese people must be forgiven for their incomprehension of the new President's true agenda. In the native Taiwanese view, Taiwan has been separated from China since 1895, and they would prefer to keep it that way. But in order to counter the KMT's unification offensive, answers to some important questions are urgently needed, namely: What is Taiwan's true legal status in the world today? and how does that relate to the status of the ROC? If a written consensus can be reached on these topics, that document can then serve as a guide for resolving the local Taiwanese people's "national identity crisis" once and for all. At that point, it will be possible to answer the question: "What passports should the Taiwanese people be carrying?"
The organizers of the Taiwan Civil Government website feel that this passport issue is of paramount importance. With no clear legal basis to include Taiwan in its definition of "national territory," and no international treaty references which can be found, the ROC is definitely not the competent authority to issue ID documentation (including ID cards, drivers' licenses, passports, etc.) of any kind to native Taiwanese persons. In the world today, such an interpretation must be fully recognized by the government agencies of all leading world nations under the terms of the San Francisco Peace Treaty of April 28, 1952.
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