Taiwan Autonomy (1): Native Taiwanese and ROC Exiles
Not recognizing the PRC’s claim over Taiwan or Taiwan as a sovereign state, U.S. policy has considered Taiwan’s status as unsettled. With added conditions, U.S. policy leaves the Taiwan question to be resolved by the people on both sides of the strait: a “peaceful resolution” with the assent of Taiwan’s people and without unilateral changes. In short, U.S. policy focuses on the process of resolution of the Taiwan question, not any set outcome . . . . .
China/Taiwan: Evolution of the “One China” Policy
Congressional Research Service (CRS), Washington, D.C.
Who are Taiwan’s people? In consideration that
- When ROC/KMT troops arrived in Taiwan in Oct. 1945 (carried on U.S. ships and aircraft), the island already had a population of over six million, who are properly called “native Taiwanese,”
- The Allies did not recognize any transfer of Taiwan’s territorial sovereignty to “China” at any time in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, or any other time, hence
- The announcement of “Taiwan Retrocession Day” by the ROC/KMT officials on Oct. 25, 1945, was without legal validity,
- Taiwan was sovereign Japanese territory until Japan renounced its right, title, and claim to Taiwan in the San Francisco Peace Treaty (SFPT) of April 28, 1952, and importantly
- Neither the SFPT nor the Treaty of Taipei of Aug. 5, 1952, gave the ROC any rights over Taiwan territory,
From the above facts, it is clear that the mass naturalization of “native Taiwanese” by the ROC/KMT military authorities on Jan. 12, 1946, as based on the premise of Oct. 25, 1945, being “Taiwan Retrocession Day,” was entirely illegal.
Hence, in the current era, the continued recognition of the descendants of the native Taiwanese people as being “Republic of China citizens” is a policy that is totally without legal basis, and amounts to a major injury to their human dignity. Furthermore, classifying them as “Chinese” is effectively kidnapping their future.
The native Taiwanese are correctly classified as “Taiwanese.” They are not Chinese. We also know that --
- The world community currently maintains that the legal status of Taiwan is “undetermined” or “unsettled,”
- According to the International Standards Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, the “Republic of China” is not a recognized “nationality” in the world today.
With the above knowledge, we can summarize the situation of Native Taiwanese and ROC Exiles as follows.
Native Taiwanese and ROC Exiles
From the period of the early 1950’s, and up to the current era, the population of Taiwan can be separated into two major groups, which of course will include their descendants up to the present day.
Group #1
The first group is the native Taiwanese who trace their ancestry in Taiwan back to the early 1600s, or even earlier. Notably, at the end of hostilities in WWII, these native Taiwanese had been in Taiwan eighteen generations or more.
Group #2
The second group is the Republic of China (ROC) Chinese who came in mid-October 1945, brought by US ships and aircraft, and then and continued in a slow but steady immigrant stream through early 1949. At that point their numbers increased significantly as the communists gained successive victories over KMT forces in China, and ROC loyalists fled the mainland. In late 1949 and into 1950, this exodus resulted in a virtual flood of immigration into occupied Taiwan. As of the early 1950s, these people are properly labeled as the ROC exiles.
Overview: As an indigenous group, the native Taiwanese people (who comprise over 80% or more of the local population) meet the criteria of having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed in their territory. As a result, they must be considered distinct from the ROC exiles who only began to arrive in the mid to late 1940s. They have a strong desire to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their Taiwanese ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as a people, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions, and evolving legal system.
Indeed, a 1959 court case in Washington D.C. found that Taiwan was not a part of the national territory of the Republic of China (ROC). Hence, in Taiwan, the ROC is a “foreign regime.” In fact, by moving its central government to occupied Taiwan in December 1949, the ROC had already become a government in exile.
In light of the above facts, it is also clear that the distinction between “native Taiwanese people” and “ROC exiles” is not based on any of the criteria found in Article 1 of the “International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.”
Stateless Status
After the expulsion of the Republic of China from the United Nations in late October 1971 (or even earlier by some accounts), the classification of native Taiwanese people as being “ROC citizens” has rendered them as “stateless.”
In confirmation of this, a District Court decision of March 18, 2008, in Washington, D.C. found that: [The Native Taiwanese] Plaintiffs have essentially been persons without a state for almost 60 years.
Such a status is in direct violation of Article 15 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says everyone has the right to a nationality. Obviously, under the “human rights clause” of the Taiwan Relations Act, this should be of major concern to U.S. government officials as well.
The United States does not recognize the Republic of China as a state or a government.
Treaties in Force
(annual publication)
"Taiwan" entry
U.S. Dept. of State, Washington, D.C.
In conclusion, the native Taiwanese people should not be carrying any kind of passports or travel documents issued by the ROC regime, which the majority of world nations do not recognize as a “state” or a “government.” Based on the established precedent in the Spanish American War and other conflicts, we can quickly come to the realization that –
For territory separated from the “motherland” via the specifications of a peace treaty, but with no designated “receiving country,” it is the “conqueror” (which under the laws of war is the “legal occupier”) which holds the 1st tier territorial jurisdiction over the territory.
San Francisco Peace Treaty
In Article 4(b), the SFPT designates the United States Military Government as having jurisdiction over Taiwan. In addition, Article 23(a) designates the United States of America as the principal occupying power. Notably, the Republic of China was not invited to sign this treaty.
Here in the 21st century, when attempting to make a determination of the proper issuing authority for passports or other travel documents to native Taiwanese people, these important treaty specifications regarding U.S. jurisdiction over Taiwan should be taken into account.
Please watch
Travel Documents Issued by a Sovereign State