Recent Chinese History

           

(from the Chinese viewpoint)

 number      date       event   status of ROC government
    1.   1895.05.08   Treaty of Shimonoseki, Article 2

China cedes to Japan in perpetuity and full sovereignty the following territories, together with all fortifications, arsenals, and public property thereon:?br>
(b) The island of Formosa, together with all islands appertaining or belonging to the said island of Formosa.

(c) The Pescadores Group, that is to say, all islands lying between the 119th and 120th degrees of longitude east of Greenwich and the 23rd and 24th degrees of north latitude.

     ----- 
    2.    1912.01.01     Founding of the Republic of China    The ROC is the legal   government of China, i.e. the "juridical person" of China
    3.   1937.07.07   The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, beginning of Chinese-Japanese War

"
    4.   1941.12.07   Attack on Pearl Harbor, United States enters WWII

"
    *   1943.11.27   Cairo Declaration

"
    *   1945.07.26   Potsdam Declaration

"
    5.   1945.09.02   General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, General Order No. 1

Military and Naval

a. The senior Japanese commanders and all ground, sea, air and auxiliary forces within China (excluding Manchuria), Formosa and French Indo-China north of 16 north latitude shall surrender to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

 "
    6A.   1945.10.25   Surrender of Japanese military forces in Taiwan, "Taiwan Retrocession Day"

"
    6B.    

"
    7.   1945.12.05   Nationality of Taiwanese persons changed to "Republic of China nationality"

"
    8.   1946.01.12   Proclamation by Chiang Kai-shek cancelling the provisions of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Formosa and the Pescadores return to government rule of the Republic of China

"
    9.      
   10A.   1949.10.01  Founding of the People's Republic of China

"

   10B.   1949.12.09  The government of the Republic of China moves to Taipei, Taiwan

"

(Note: The effective national boundaries of the ROC were severely reduced)
   11.      
   12.   1952.08.05   The Treaty of Taipei (Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty) comes into effect

"
   13.   1955.03.03   The Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of China comes into effect

"
   14.   1971.10.26  The Republic of China loses its seat in the United Nations

 (Note: the ROC began to lose support of the international community)
   15.   1972.02.28   The first Shanghai Communique  
   16.   1978.12.16   The United States and the Republic of China break diplomatic relations  
   17.   1979.01.01   The second Shanghai Communique  
   18.   1979.03.01   The United States establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China  
   19.   1979.04.10   The United States promulgates the "Taiwan Relations Act"  
   20   1980.01.01   The Mutual Defense Treaty Treaty between the United States and the Republic of China expires, as per the provisions of Article 10  
   21.   1982.10.17  The third Shanghai Communique  

The government of the Republic of China on Taiwan draws one set of conclusions from the above historical data:

  1. The sovereignty of Formosa and the Pescadores was transferred to the Republic of China on 1945.10.25.

  2. The correct name of the central government, from 1912 to the present,  is "Republic of China".  This nomenclature takes into account the 1978.08.23 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties.

  3. The Republic of China on Taiwan is an independent and sovereign nation.

  4. The Republic of China on Taiwan is fully qualified to join the United Nations.

  5. The political entities on either side of the Taiwan Strait are both countries in their own right.

The government of the People's Republic of China draws a differing set of conclusions from the above historical data: 

  1. The sovereignty of Formosa and the Pescadores was transferred to the Republic of China on 1945.10.25.

  2. The correct name of the central government, from 1949 to the present,  is "People's Republic of China".  This nomenclature takes into account the 1978.08.23 Vienna Convention on Succession of States in respect of Treaties.

  3. The People's Republic of China is an independent and sovereign nation, and is the sole legally recognized government of China.

  4. The People's Republic of China is a member of the United Nations.

  5. The People's Republic of China is the successor government to the Republic of China, hence from a legal standpoint Formosa and the Pescadores clearly belong to the People's Republic of China.

Before continuing on, please read
Five Observations and Annotations

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Now you are ready to consider

Recent Chinese History

(from a more international perspective)

 number      date       event   status of ROC government
    1.   1895.05.08   Treaty of Shimonoseki, Article 2

China cedes to Japan in perpetuity and full sovereignty the following territories, together with all fortifications, arsenals, and public property thereon:?br>
(b) The island of Formosa, together with all islands appertaining or belonging to the said island of Formosa.

(c) The Pescadores Group, that is to say, all islands lying between the 119th and 120th degrees of longitude east of Greenwich and the 23rd and 24th degrees of north latitude.

     ----- 
    2.    1912.01.01     Founding of the Republic of China    The ROC is the legal   government of China, i.e. the "juridical person" of China
    3.   1937.07.07   The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, beginning of Chinese-Japanese War

"
    4.   1941.12.07   Attack on Pearl Harbor, United States enters WWII

"
    *   1943.11.27   Cairo Declaration

"
    *   1945.07.26   Potsdam Declaration

"
    5.   1945.09.02   General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, General Order No. 1

Military and Naval

a. The senior Japanese commanders and all ground, sea, air and auxiliary forces within China (excluding Manchuria), Formosa and French Indo-China north of 16 north latitude shall surrender to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek.

 "
    6A.        
    6B.   1945.10.25   The ROC (KMT) military forces accept the surrender of Japanese military forces in Taiwan on behalf of the United States Military Government

Formosa and the Pescadores become an independent customs territory 

ROC (KMT) military forces occupy Formosa and the Pescadores as junior partners in the occupation of Japan and her former dependencies.   Under international law, "occupation does not transfer sovereignty."

"
    7.      

"
    8.      

"
    9.   1948.11.30   The Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation Treaty between the United States and the Republic of China comes into effect  
   10A.   1949.10.01  Founding of the People's Republic of China

"

   10B.   1949.12.09  The government of the Republic of China moves to Taipei, Taiwan

The ROC is the recognized government-in-exile of China
   11.   1952.04.28   The San Francisco Peace Treaty comes into effect

 Formosa and the Pescadores are a territorial cession under Article 2b

The United States Military Government is the principal occupying power under Article 23.  According to the precedent established in 1901 in the US Supreme Court's Insular Cases, the sovereignty of Formosa and the Pescadores is held in trust by the United States Military Government

The Republic of China (KMT) government continues to exercise the delegated administrative authority under a "civil affairs administration of a military government" after cession by treaty in friendly territory

 "
   12.   1952.08.05   The Treaty of Taipei (Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty) comes into effect

"
   13.   1955.03.03   The Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of China comes into effect

"
   14.   1971.10.26  The Republic of China loses its seat in the United Nations

"
   15.   1972.02.28   The first Shanghai Communique

"
   16.   1978.12.16   The United States and the Republic of China break diplomatic relations

 The ROC is the non-recognized government-in-exile of China
   17.   1979.01.01   The second Shanghai Communique

"
   18.   1979.03.01   The United States establishes diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China

"
   19.   1979.04.10   The United States promulgates the "Taiwan Relations Act"

"
   20   1980.01.01   The Mutual Defense Treaty Treaty between the United States and the Republic of China expires, as per the provisions of Article 10

"
   21.   1982.10.17  The third Shanghai Communique

"

The international community draws a clearer set of conclusions from the above historical data:

  1. The sovereignty of Formosa and the Pescadores was never transferred to the Republic of China.

  2. Under the "One China Policy" the People's Republic of China is the solely recognized legal government of China.

  3. Taiwan is not an independent and sovereign nation.

  4. According to the determination of the United Nations and the international community, and under the provisions of the "Taiwan Relations Act", the government of Taiwan can only be termed the "Taiwan governing authorities," and cannot properly be called the "Republic of China.

  5. Taiwan is not qualified to join the United Nations.

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