U.S. interferes with Taiwan, endangers peace
Japan took Taiwan from China in 1895 as a result of the Sino-Japanese War. During World War II, China was promised a return of Taiwan upon Japan’s defeat. What happened? How can the U.S. now have a One China policy with the People's Republic of China (herein PRC) having sovereignty over Taiwan but the PRC cannot possess it? It’s like having title to your house and land, but you cannot 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 Jan. 1, 1979.
Previous column: Origins of Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan
Mao’s Communist faction won the civil war and announced on Oct. 1, 1949, the PRC is the successor government to the Republic of China (herein ROC). The U.S. did not recognize the PRC as the government of China. The U.S. continued to recognize Chiang Kai-shek’s ROC, which had fled in defeat to Taiwan, until Jan. 1, 1979, 29 years later, which must be a record of false legal fictions.
On June 20, 1950, the North Koreans attacked the South Koreans starting the Korean War. On June 27, 1950, President Harry Truman made an important statement which 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 United States forces. … Accordingly I have ordered the Seventh Fleet to prevent any attack on Formosa.”
Thus, the U.S. blocked by force 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 settlement with Japan, or consideration by the United Nations.”
We’ll look at the latter two issues.
Regarding the peace conference with Japan, it was held during the Korean War, signed Sept. 8, 1951, effective April 28, 1952, in San Francisco. The conference was dominated by the U.S., we can assume. Japan transferred sovereignty regarding Taiwan out of itself, but it was ceded to no one (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, such would have been hard politically when at war with the PRC in Korea (Gen. Douglas McArthur had aggressively taken the U.N. troops up to the Chinese border in Korea, bringing the PRC into the war).
Regarding the Cold War, the U.S. did not accept the Geneva Settlements to end the French war in Indochina; thus, it adopted the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) on Sept. 8, 1954, a defensive treaty against communism. Just 85 days later, the U.S. entered into a Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan, signed on Dec. 2, 1954, effective March 3, 1955. This was the ultimate interference with the PRC’s sovereignty and possession of Taiwan. In Article VIII, the treaty purported to be in the context of the Charter of the United Nations.
Thus, critically, regarding the United Nations, in 1971 the U.N. seated the PRC as the sole government of China, including Taiwan, and removed the ROC. Today, only 15 of 193 states recognize Taiwan. Also in 1971, President Richard Nixon was preparing his trip to the PRC. Out of that meeting came the Shanghai Communique of Feb. 28, 1972, in which the U.S. stated: “The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States does not challenge that position. It reaffirms its interest in a peaceful settlement … by the Chinese themselves.”
Then, on Jan. 1, 1979, the U.S. 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, would there be a settlement by the Chinese themselves?
No, the Taiwan Relations Act, April 10, 1979, created by conservatives, was born, a functional equivalent of the former Mutual Defense Treaty, but with more detail and scope, to be examined next time.
James W. Pfister, J.D. University of Toledo, Ph.D. University of Michigan (political science), retired after 46 years in the Political Science Department at Eastern Michigan University. He lives at Devils Lake and can be reached at jpfister@emich.edu.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: James Pfister: United States interferes with Taiwan, endangers peace
