A Primer on Taiwan – In Who’s Hands does it Belong?
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Part II of IV
In Part I, I began outlining the political history of Taiwan and also ruminated on the somewhat outlandish position in favor of Japanese empowerment over Taiwan. In complete frankness, neither I nor any well-respected pundit would tell you that Japan will ever again conceivably colonize Taiwan. In spite of this, I included Japan for the sake of constructive debate, because though Japan’s colonization of Taiwan is insufficient to mandate a new occupation, Japan did irreversibly impact Taiwan’s culture in a meaningful and pro-Japanese way. One could even argue that the concept of ‘Taiwanese culture’ hardly existed until Japanese customs were forced into the mix, leaving a hodgepodge of Chinese and Japanese values from which emerged the basis of the present-day Taiwanese identity.
It is no secret that in order to determine the most legitimate ruling party for Taiwan, the cultural inclination of its people is paramount.
Next we consider the position of the United States…
The United States
Basis of Position: Military Supporter, WWII Liberator
Relative Strength of Position: Spurious
Pro: Let me begin to demonstrate this position with some history. Starting with the present diplomatic position of the U.S., straight from our main website:
“In 1980, the Cold War alliance treaty between the U.S. and Taiwan was terminated and replaced with the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which authorizes the U.S. to provide Taiwan with “arms of a defensive character,” but does not formally commit U.S. forces in the event of a cross-Straight conflict. Mainland China insists that as a prerequisite for economic and diplomatic ties, foreign nations must not recognize the sovereignty of Taiwan, thereby constraining U.S. involvement. Nonetheless, the U.S. is firmly committed to its position in the matter – though the U.S. remains officially impartial in the conflict, it stipulates that the matter must be brought about peacefully with neither side pursuing unilateral action.”
This diplomatic arrangement, underscored by the recent U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, has resulted in a precarious relationship in which Taiwan depends on U.S. arms as well as their military backing to thwart a potential Chinese invasion. Meanwhile the U.S., China, and Taiwan each must balance their growing financial interdependencies with one another despite being at ends over the future.
So, you might ask, why is the United States so adamant about Taiwan’s separation from the mainland even though it undoubtedly irks China and hurts our relations with them? Well actually, in 1949, the U.S. was prepared to accept the loss of Taiwan to the communist PRC, that is until the Korean War broke out. Only then did the United States take an aggressive national security stance to contain communism throughout Asia, which included protecting Taiwan.
Since that beginning, the basis for favorable U.S.-Taiwanese relations has changed immensely although its character has remained relatively consistent. In the United States, communism is still looked at unfavorably, but from a national security standpoint it is now nowhere near the top of potential threats. Instead, the protection of Taiwan plays a new role in U.S. national security, not to mention that it also secures our economic interests and political values interests.
Everything began to change after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At that time, it was speculated that a revisionist China might challenge the status quo of the world order, heightening Taiwan’s value as an American-friendly strategic asset and also because the U.S. wished to prevent Chinese control over its resources. In addition to the security interest, Taiwan would soon undergo a massive political transformation, aligning itself with the U.S. intentionally in the following capacities:
- Economic Ties – The U.S. had been Taiwan’s largest trading partner until 2003.
- Bilateral Relations – Taiwan has loyally supported U.S. international policy initiatives, faithfully reciprocating U.S. support.
- Political Values – Taiwan has transformed itself from rule via martial law to a stunning example of democracy. The U.S. has a clear vested interest in promoting as well as protecting such a democracy.
All of these rationalizations of U.S. interest in protecting Taiwan are swell and all, demonstrating the familial relationship between the two parties, but they do little to suggest that Taiwan should actually belong to the United States. I suppose, hypothetically, one could surmise that the notion of Taiwanese independence is illegitimate, but even does Taiwan’s political and social alignment closer resemble that of the United States than of China? One would be hard-pressed to demonstrate this…
However, the United States does have one way through the door, so to speak, and it is a very interesting story indeed. You see, on August 15th, 1945, after having already officially surrendered to the United States earlier that day, all Japanese and Taiwanese forces were ordered by General MacArther to surrender directly to the ROC government by way of an unofficial armistice, but never a formal treaty. Thus, at the time, the United States had technically only delegated control of Taiwan to China, but the U.S. itself remained the sole possessor.
In San Francisco, 1951, Japan did eventually sign a formal treaty, but while they formally renounced all claims to the region of Taiwan, they failed to specify a receiving nation, only specifying that it was ceded to the fighting force, which was almost entirely the United States. We can only conclude that at the time of the treaty signing there was a de facto assumption that Taiwan had been ceded back to China, but from a completely legal standpoint the United States was then and remains today the legitimate possessor of Taiwan. The international community might not be so easily swayed however.
Con: The United States is financially entangled with China in the growing global economy. This relationship works both ways, but even so if the U.S. were to impose any claims over Taiwan – at all, it would be risking a great deal its economic and foreign relations interests. In fact, China might even spin the situation and say, “Hey great, now that this technicality is resolved, you should have no problem giving our land back to us, thanks.” Furthermore, it would be a large leap to go from the fact that Taiwanese citizens are pro-American to assuming that they would embrace absorption into the U.S. I don’t have that information, but given that the ruling democratic party in Taiwan is actually pro-reunification one would think that the identity of the Taiwanese (98% Han-Chinese descent) is much more Chinese than it is American. Be that as it may, America has protected Taiwan like a son, which is a little less peculiar when we consider that America is in fact Taiwan’s legal guardian.
In part III, we will explore China’s claim to Taiwan, to be continued…
