In his recent Washington Examiner op-ed, Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, recently lamented Chinese President Xi Jinping’s New Year’s address, in which Xi vigorously insisted that Taiwan should rejoin China on China’s terms.
Chabot wrote: “After all, the idea that both China and Taiwan belong to ‘one China’ is opposed by almost 70 percent of Taiwanese.”
Chinese officials’ fixation with reunification relies on the One China Principle, through which the Chinese Communist Party lays claim to Taiwan. Nearly all U.S. lawmakers agree that any resolution of the Taiwan question should be done peacefully and with the active assent of the people of Taiwan. Under this framework, Chabot urged the executive branch to rethink support for the One China Policy, and to fully embrace what are known as the “Six Assurances.”
One cannot doubt Chabot’s sincerity in putting forth these recommendations, but there are many other actions which Taiwan-friendly legislators could undertake to insure that Taiwan’s future is determined by its citizens, and not by Xi.
In 1895, Taiwan was ceded to Japan by treaty. In October 1945, after Japan’s surrender in World War II, surrender ceremonies were held in Taipei, Taiwan, whereupon the Chinese officials proclaimed “Taiwan Retrocession Day.” They claimed that the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan had been returned to China, but documents of the U.S. State Department, CIA, and other agencies have all confirmed that the allies did not recognize any such transfer. The surrender ceremonies merely marked the beginning of the military occupation.
Fast forward to April 28, 1952, and the San Francisco Peace Treaty came into force. Japan renounced all of its sovereign claims to “Formosa & the Pescadores” (also known as Taiwan) in the treaty, but no receiving country was designated. Taiwan was not awarded to China in the treaty.
For the last forty years, U.S. government officials have insisted that the China-Taiwan-U.S.A. trilateral relationship has three cornerstones: the One China Policy, the Three Joint Communiques, and the Taiwan Relations Act. These are wonderful, but in fact, as a Senate-ratified treaty; the SFPT has a greater legal weight than any of these “three cornerstones.”
In the Taiwan Relations Act, we learn that the official name “Republic of China” is not recognized for Taiwan after Jan. 1, 1979. The One China Policy dictates that the People’s Republic of China is the sole legitimate government of China. Accordingly, it would seem proper and just to say that only the PRC has the right to use the term “China” on official documentation.
However, U.S. Customs officials recognize and accept passports whose cover and interior pages clearly state “Republic of China.”
Polls in Taiwan continually show that the majority of Taiwanese people see themselves as Taiwanese and not Chinese. If Chabot and other Taiwan-friendly congresspersons truly want to help the islanders have control over their own future, the first step would be to help recognize their wishes in day-to-day practice.
Have U.S. Customs officials announce that the design and content of “Republic of China” passports are a violation of the TRA, the One China Policy, and the post-war San Francisco Peace Treaty.
Authorization should then be given for the Taiwanese people to have a new passport design competition at an early date.
Tom Chang is secretary general of the Taiwan Autonomy Foundation.
