Taiwan's Sovereignty and Statehood Still "Undecided" ??

Wednesday February 04, by Jerome F. Keating Ph.D.

On February 5th, the oral arguments of a provocative lawsuit will go before the US Court of Appeals at 9:30 am. In this presentation, Dr. Roger Lin is arguing that the sovereignty and role of Taiwan in the international community remains a piece of unfinished business left over from World War II (WWII). Lin is claiming that since the US conquered Japan and its territories, it bears responsibility for the disposition of those territories and in particular that of Taiwan. That disposition was not made, treated or designated in the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1952. Taiwan was given neither to the Republic of China (ROC), nor the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Lin's arguments have a certain resonance in the fact that in 2007, Dennis Wilder, the US National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs has gone on record as saying that Taiwan's statehood is "undecided." This was an unusual statement for the country of Taiwan some sixty years after the end of WWII.

A Press Conference will be held that same afternoon of Feb. 5th at 1 pm in the Library Lounge of the National Press Club at 529 14th St. N. W., Washington DC. The press conference will treat the developments of the morning's hearing and potential subsequent plans of action.

How this will all come down has interesting ramifications. Do the 23 million people of Taiwan not have the right of self-determination granted in the Charter of the United Nations? After all, the population of Taiwan is larger than 75 per cent of the existing countries in the United Nations. Or should the Taiwanese be given the right to have US Passports? The results of this case should be followed by all.