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.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and