If the recent elections in Taiwan where outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen and President-elect William Lai Ching-te gave praise for support by the United States was aimed at undermining China’s claims to its territory, then the move will fail spectacularly.
A US delegation visited Taiwan over the weekend in a show of solidarity for both the elections and its outcome. Experts have termed the elections as a provocation by the separatist, and Beijing terming the process as a choice between “peace and war”. But China has always maintained that it will follow “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, no matter how long it takes.
Indeed, this is Solomonic wisdom. While those who incite the Taiwan separatists would like to provoke China into a military confrontation, the latter has always been diplomatic in following up its claims on its rightful territory. China has stated and proven its point without any contradiction or confrontation.
By August 2022, 181 countries including the United States have established diplomatic relations with the PRC on the basis of the one-China principle. The China-US Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, published in December 1978, states: “The Government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.”
The one-China principle represents the universal consensus of the international community; it is consistent with the basic norms of international relations. To date, 181 countries including the United States have established diplomatic relations with the PRC on the basis of the one-China principle.
The China-US Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, published in December 1978, states: “The Government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.”
It also states: “The United States of America recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. Within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.”
In a press conference on January 14 after meeting Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo during his customary new year tour of Africa, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated categorically that the Taiwan elections cannot change the basic fact that there is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is part of China.
Wang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee said that the Taiwan elections “also won’t change the prevailing consensus of the international community on adhering to the one-China principle.”
Giving the historical context, Wang recalled that 80 years ago in Cairo, China, the United States and Britain issued the Cairo Declaration, which clearly stipulated that all the territories Japan had stolen from China, including Taiwan, should be restored to China. Subsequently, the three major countries, including the Soviet Union, issued Article Eight of the Potsdam Declaration in 1945 that required the “terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out”, which Japan acceded to and declared unconditional surrender.
Indeed, the fact that Taiwan is part of China is non-negotiable. Those who pursue Taiwan’s independence in any way are definitely out of touch with both history and international law. Pursuing the idea is also not only a blatant interference in China’s internal affairs and an affront to the country’s sovereignty, but also a serious threat to the welfare of Taiwan compatriots and danger to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Now, it is important to revisit history in order to remove all doubts about China’s legitimate claims. According to a white paper titled, “The Taiwan Question and China’s Reunification in the New Era” published by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China in August 2022, China’s claim to Taiwan since ancient times is supported by both history and jurisprudence.
New archeological discoveries and research findings regularly attest to the profound historical and cultural ties between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. A large number of historical records and annals document the development of Taiwan by the Chinese people in earlier periods.
The Chinese government has published two previous white papers on Taiwan. One was The Taiwan Question and Reunification of China in August 1993, and the other was The One-China Principle and the Taiwan Issue in February 2000. These two white papers provided a comprehensive and systematic elaboration of the basic principles and policies regarding the resolution of the Taiwan question.
Ultimately, as the white paper states, resolving the Taiwan question and realising China’s complete reunification is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. It is indispensable for the realisation of China’s rejuvenation. It is also a historic mission of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The CPC, the Chinese government, and the Chinese people have striven for decades to achieve this goal.
