Breaking News

These are the 20 best travel destinations for summer 2024, according to Google Flight Searches 3 Google Maps updates to make summer travel easier SPACECENT is up the new war zone > United States Space Force > Article Display Tuberculosis — United States, 2023 | MMWR Thousands of US bridges are vulnerable to collapse from a single hit: NTSB Why don’t the Blazers or ROOT Sports offer standalone streaming? Up to 200,000 people estimated to travel to Vermont for total solar eclipse How fast will April’s total solar eclipse travel? The UN Security Council demands a ceasefire in Gaza during Ramadan Mexico in the emerging world order

Japan took Taiwan from China in 1895 as a result of the Sino-Japanese War. During the Second World War, China was promised the return of Taiwan upon the defeat of Japan. what happened How can the US now have a One China policy with the People’s Republic of China (hence the PRC) having sovereignty over Taiwan but the PRC not being able to own it? It’s like having title to your house and land, but you can’t be there yourself. The answer, I think, is systematic American interference from World War II up to and including the effects of the Taiwan Relations Act of January 1, 1979.

Previous column: Origins of Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan

Mao’s Communist faction won the civil war and announced on October 1, 1949, the PRC is the successor government to the Republic of China (hereafter ROC). The United States did not recognize the PRC as the government of China. The United States continued to recognize the ROC of Chiang Kai-shek, who had fled in defeat to Taiwan, until January 1, 1979, 29 years later, which must be a record of false legal fictions.

On June 20, 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea starting the Korean War. On June 27, 1950, President Harry Truman made an important statement that shaped American foreign policy for years. Regarding the PRC, he said: “In these circumstances the occupation of Formosa (Taiwan) by Communist forces would be a direct threat to the security of the Pacific area and to the forces of the United States. … I have therefore ordered the Seventh Fleet to prevent any attack on Formosa.”

Therefore, the United States forcibly blocked any attempt by the PRC to govern Taiwan.

Truman also stated that any resolution of the Taiwan issue “…must await the restoration of peace in the Pacific, a peace agreement with Japan, or consideration by the United Nations.”

We will look at the latter two issues.

Regarding the peace conference with Japan, held during the Korean War, signed on September 8, 1951, effective on April 28, 1952, in San Francisco. The conference was dominated by the United States, we can assume. Japan transferred sovereignty over Taiwan from itself, but it was not ceded to anyone (John Foster Dulles, Department of State). By law, I believe, it should have gone to the PRC, but in the context of the Cold War, this would have been politically difficult when in a war with the PRC in Korea (Gen. Douglas McArthur had aggressively taken the UN troops to the Chinese border in Korea, bringing the PRC into the war).

Regarding the Cold War, the United States did not accept the Geneva Settlements to end the French war in Indochina; therefore, it adopted the Southeast Asian Treaty Organization (SEATO) on September 8, 1954, a defensive treaty against communism. Just 85 days later, the United States entered into a Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan, signed on December 2, 1954, effective March 3, 1955. This was the ultimate interference with sovereignty and possession of Taiwan of the PRC. In Article VIII, the treaty was intended to be in the context of the United Nations Charter.

So, critically, in relation to the United Nations, in 1971 the UN put the PRC as the sole government of China, including Taiwan, and removed the ROC. Today, only 15 out of 193 states recognize Taiwan. Also in 1971, President Richard Nixon was preparing his trip to the PRC. From that meeting came the Shanghai Communiqué of February 28, 1972, in which the United States stated: “The United States recognizes that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Straits support that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China. . The United States does not dispute that position. Reaffirms his interest in a peaceful solution … by the Chinese themselves.”

Then, on January 1, 1979, the United States finally recognized the PRC as the sole legal government of all of China, including Taiwan. President Jimmy Carter terminated the Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan. Now, finally, will there be a solution from the Chinese themselves?

No, the Taiwan Relations Act was born, April 10, 1979, created by conservatives, a functional equivalent of the earlier Mutual Defense Treaty, but with more detail and scope, to be examined the next time.

James W. Pfister, J.D. University of Toledo, Ph.D. University of Michigan (political science), retired after 46 years in the Department of Political Science at Eastern Michigan University. He lives in Devils Lake and can be reached at jpfister@emich.edu.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *