The US Supreme Court has refused to hear a lawsuit brought by Taiwanese activist Roger Lin (林志昇) that argues that the US is the principal occupying power of Taiwan and should still control it.
The terse rejection by the highest US court scuttles Lin’s legal maneuvers in the US and at the same time could end an attempt by former President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) — sentenced to life in prison last month — to win his freedom through Washington.
Under a one-sentence ruling known as “certiorari denied,” the Supreme Court declined to hear the case and allowed a prior ruling to stand.
That ruling came in April when the US Court of Appeals sided with the US government on Lin’s case and reaffirmed that US courts do not deal with political matters.
Legal analysts said in Washington on Monday night that as far as the US legal system was concerned, the case brought by Lin and expanded by Chen can go no further in the US and has been dismissed.
Lin first brought the case to US courts in December 2006, arguing that Japan relinquished control over Taiwan and Penghu after World War II, but did not return it to China.
He wanted the US courts to decide what rights the Taiwanese have under the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the US Constitution, including whether they should be issued US passports.
Lin said the treaty did not address sovereignty over Taiwan and Penghu, and that the US was therefore still the principal occupying power.
Judges from the US Court of Appeals had some sympathy with Lin’s arguments, but ruled in April: “America and China’s tumultuous relationship over the past 60 years has trapped the inhabitants of Taiwan in political purgatory.
“During this time the people of Taiwan have lived without any uniformly recognized government. In practical terms, this means they have uncertain status in the world community, which infects the population’s day-to-day lives.”
But they added: “Determining Appellants’ nationality would require us to trespass into a controversial area of US foreign policy in order to resolve a question the Executive Branch intentionally left unanswered for over sixty years: who exercises sovereignty over Taiwan. This we cannot do.”
The case took an unusual twist last month when Chen — convicted of taking bribes while in office — claimed Taiwan was still technically under US military occupation and that the Taiwanese government had no legal right to try or detain him.
Latching onto Lin’s suit, Chen, 58, filed his own case in the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington.
The US financial news service Bloomberg quoted Shih Cheng-chuan (施正權), a professor of international affairs at Tamkang University in Taipei, as saying: “Chen Shui-bian is a desperate man and he is trying to use any trick to get out of jail. There is little chance that the US will meddle with the case.”
Coen Blaauw, executive director of the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Relations, told the Taipei Times: “Taiwan’s future will not be determined in a court of law. Only the people of Taiwan have the right to determine Taiwan’s future. There are no tricks or short cuts to full Taiwan independence, it might be a long and difficult road but it’s the only way to go.”
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
RSS