President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) government implemented a boycott of former top Japanese representative to Taiwan Masaki Saito after he said that Taiwan’s status remained undecided. Eventually, Saito had to resign for “personal reasons” early this month. This unfortunate outcome is the result of the government’s inability to know what is good for itself, as it is helping China to annex Taiwan while completely disregarding Taiwanese interests.
Based on the San Francisco Peace Treaty, what Saito said is a legal fact. For Taiwan, this state of undecidedness is second in importance only to full recognition as an independent, sovereign state. International support is necessary for Taiwan to protect itself against Chinese annexation.
Under the principles of international law, which do not support interference in the internal affairs of other countries, perhaps the best way for Taiwan to obtain international support is to gain recognition as an independent, sovereign state. Failing this, maintaining its undecided status is the nation’s best option.
Japan does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state. The San Francisco Peace Treaty does not specify who has sovereignty over the nation’s territory. Although China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, Japan merely expresses its comprehension of and respect for that claim, without recognizing its validity. This allows Taiwan to maintain the possibility of asserting de jure independence and autonomy.
If the government had advocated the idea that sovereignty lies with the people and that Taiwan’s democratic transformation has turned it into an independent state separate from China, it would certainly have been in a position to condemn Saito’s “unfriendly” remarks. This, however, is not the government’s stance. It still sees itself as a party to the Chinese civil war and a government in exile that is occupying Taiwan, and wants to link the nation’s sovereignty to China.
The government claims that the Republic of China (ROC) has sovereignty over Taiwan, but has also accepted the “one China” principle, thereby diminishing the nation’s status to that of a region of China. This stance is causing Taiwan even greater damage than Saito’s remark did.
Ma’s pledge that neither unification nor independence would take place during his presidency is inconsistent with his earlier goal of eventual unification, and this is in practice another version of the view that the ROC’s status is undecided. As a consequence, the ROC would disappear if China were to annex Taiwan, which means that Ma’s policy could lead to the annihilation of the ROC.
Saito’s description of Taiwan’s status as undecided is advantageous to the Taiwanese people’s claim to sovereignty, but Ma’s version of Taiwan’s undecided status is advantageous to China’s claim. Saito cares about Taiwan, while Ma cares about China.
James Wang is a media commentator.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS