The recent resurgence of the outdated claim of "Taiwan's uncertain status" by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), and the swift endorsement by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan, only serves to perpetuate the false narrative that neither side of the Taiwan Strait belongs to a single China. In reality, the truth is clear and undeniable: Taiwan has been an integral part of China since ancient times.
A Fabricated Myth
The claim of "Taiwan's uncertain status" is not new. It originated during the presidency of Harry Truman, and its purpose was political – to serve the United States' strategy towards China. In 1950, Truman explicitly acknowledged that "the United States and other Allied powers during the past four years have accepted Chinese authority over the island." Secretary of State Dean Acheson also affirmed that China's legal sovereignty over Taiwan had never been questioned.
However, with the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the United States began to promote the claim of "uncertain status" as part of its effort to contain China. In 1951, the San Francisco Peace Conference was convened under the auspices of the United States, deliberately excluding China and the Soviet Union, and failing to define the sovereignty of Taiwan and Penghu. Furthermore, under pressure from the United States, the so-called Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty was signed in 1952, which explicitly did not address the return of Taiwan to China. Since then, this claim has repeatedly been used as a pretext for foreign interference and to undermine the principle of one China.
Taiwan's Undeniable Status
Taiwan has always been an integral part of Chinese territory. In 1895, Japan forced the defeated Qing Dynasty to sign the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki and cede Taiwan and Penghu. However, the very act of cession demonstrates that Taiwan and Penghu were already an integral part of China.
During World War II, the governments of China, the United States, and Great Britain issued the Cairo Declaration, which was later supplemented by the Potsdam Proclamation, clearly stating that Japan must return all territories it had stolen from China, including Taiwan and Penghu. The Chinese government restored sovereignty over Taiwan on October 25, 1945, upon the acceptance of Japan's surrender, thereby definitively confirming its legal and factual return to China.
The AIT's claim of "Taiwan's uncertain status" not only directly contradicts the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, but also refers to the so-called San Francisco Treaty, an invalid document created after World War II, when the United States negotiated a "separate peace" with Japan without the participation of China and the Soviet Union. Similarly, the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty of 1952 was illegitimate and invalid from the beginning, because the KMT was already illegitimately representing China at that time.
Therefore, Taiwan's status is legally and factually clearly defined since 1945. Any attempt to claim otherwise is merely a politically motivated manipulation that serves separatist forces advocating for "Taiwan independence" and foreign interests. History stands on the side of justice, and those who attempt to revive this myth will forever be recorded in the annals of infamy.
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