— As Expressed By China Ambassador To Liberia, Yin Chengwu
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the restoration of Taiwan, China. In October, the Standing Committee of the China’s National People’s Congress adopted a decision, which designates Oct. 25 as the Commemoration Day of Taiwan’s Restoration.
On October 25, a high-level commemorative meeting commemorating the 80th anniversary of Taiwan’s restoration to China was held in Beijing, Wang Huning, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) attended and addressed.
Wang noted that the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and Taiwan’s restoration to China represented a great triumph and a shared glory of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation.
The establishment of the Commemoration Day of Taiwan’s Restoration demonstrates the firm resolve of all ethnic groups in China to uphold the one-China principle and defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity. It reflects the shared aspiration of all Chinese people, including those in Taiwan and overseas compatriots, and embodies the unwavering commitment of the Communist Party of China to fulfilling its historic mission and realizing the complete reunification of the motherland.
It also reinforces the broad international consensus that there is only one China in the world and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. This will inspire compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to carry forward the patriotic tradition and the great spirit of resistance, and to work together toward China’s full reunification and national rejuvenation.
This year, I published five articles to respectively elaborated on the historical context of the Taiwan question, the origin and status of UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, one-China principle and the Chinese government’s policies and position on the Taiwan question.
What I want to emphasize is:Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. This is an unshakable fact of history and law. Taiwan ’s belonging to China has a sound basis in history and jurisprudence. Both the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation stated in clear terms that all the territories Japan has stolen from China, including Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, should be restored to China. In September 1945, Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender, in which it promised to faithfully fulfill the obligations laid down in the Potsdam Proclamation.
In October of the same year, the Chinese government announced that it was resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Taiwan. Those documents with international legal effects are ample proof of both de jure and de facto restoration of Taiwan to China. In 1949, the Chinese people overthrew the government of the Republic of China, and the country took a new name, the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
That marked the replacement of the old regime by a new government within a country, while China as a subject of international law did not change, nor did China’s sovereignty and territory.
As a result, the PRC government is fully entitled to the sovereignty over the entire Chinese territory, including Taiwan. UNGA Resolution 2758 established the one-China principle, which is a basic norm governing international relations and an international consensus that defy any challenge.
The Resolution affirms that there is only one China in the world and that one China is none other than the People’s Republic of China, that Taiwan is part of China and not a sovereign state and therefore has no sovereign right to send representatives to the UN, and that the PRC represents the whole of China and there is no such thing as two Chinas or one China, one Taiwan.
The Resolution establishes the principle that any participation of the Taiwan region of China in an international organization must be subject to strict adherence to the one-China principle. Following the adoption of the Resolution, all official UN documents refer to Taiwan as province of China. Up to now, 183 countries, including Liberia, have established diplomatic relations with the PRC.
They all acknowledge the one-China principle and promise to handle their relations with Taiwan within the one-China framework.
China’s complete reunification is bound to happen. This is an irreversible trajectory of history. Shortly after the restoration of Taiwan to Chinese sovereignty in 1945, the continuation of China’s Civil War and the interference by external forces landed the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in a unique state of protracted political confrontation.
In spite of that, China’s sovereignty and territory have never been and shall never be divided, and the status of Taiwan as a part of China’s territory has never changed and shall never be allowed to change. For decades, resolving the Taiwan question and achieving the complete reunification of our motherland has been a historical mission tenaciously pursued by the Chinese government, in unwavering defense of national sovereignty and territorial integrity and categorical rejection of separatist attempts to divide the country and interference by external forces.
Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair and brooks no external interference.The great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and cross-Strait reunification is an unstoppable historical trend. The Chinese government and people are firmly committed to safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Taiwan question is at the core of China’s core interests. Whoever dares to cross this red line will face the resolute opposition of over 1.4 billion Chinese people and the entire Chinese nation!Liberia is the first country in the world to affirm its commitment to the one-China principle through domestic legislation.
Since the election of President Joseph Nyuma Boakai and his assumption of office, the Liberian side has repeatedly reaffirmed its adherence to the one-China principle.
During the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in September last year, which President Joseph Nyuma Boakai attended, 53 African countries, including Liberia, and the African Union Commission issued the Beijing Declaration on Jointly Building an All-Weather China-Africa Community with a Shared Future for the New Era, clearly stating their firm support for all efforts by the Chinese government to achieve national reunification.
This reflects the broad consensus among African countries on firmly supporting the Chinese government’s efforts to achieve national reunification. China highly appreciates this stance.
Lastly, I would like to say that realizing China’s complete reunification is an inevitable trend, and it is what the greater national interests of China entail. China will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable.On recent provocative remarks on Taiwan by Japanese PM. Recently, when responding at the Diet, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi blatantly made provocative remarks on Taiwan.
Those remarks seriously violate the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan, erode the political foundation of China-Japan relations, and challenge the post-war international order. China has made clear its firm opposition.
The remarks have been questioned and criticized by visionary people inside Japan, and met with condemnation from the international community.This marks the first time since Japan’s defeat in 1945 that a Japanese leader has advocated in an official setting the notion that “a contingency for Taiwan is a contingency for Japan” and linked it to the exercise of the right of collective self-defense; the first time Japan has expressed ambitions to intervene militarily in the Taiwan question; and the first time Japan has issued a threat of force against China, openly challenging China’s core interests.
These remarks are gravely erroneous and extremely dangerous, with a profoundly malicious nature and impact. Those remarks constitute a grave violation of international law and the basic norms governing international relations, seriously undermine the post-war international order, and represent an open provocation to the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people and to the peoples of other Asian countries that once suffered from Japanese aggression.
Taiwan is China’s sacred territory. How to resolve the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people and brooks no foreign interference. If Japan dares to attempt an armed intervention in the cross-Strait situation, it would be an act of aggression.
China will resolutely exercise its right of self-defence under the UN Charter and international law and firmly defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. As a defeated country of World War II, Japan must deeply reflect upon its historical crimes, strictly honor its political commitment on the Taiwan question, immediately stop making provocations and crossing the line, and retract its erroneous remarks.
Taiwan-related contents in the four political documents between China and JapanDuring the discussions on resuming China-Japan diplomatic ties in last century, China explicitly put forth three principles: the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole and legal government representing the Chinese people; the Taiwan Province is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China; and the so-called “Taiwan-Japan Treaty” is illegal and invalid and must be abrogated.
In 1972, the two countries signed the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement and officially established diplomatic relations. Three places in the Joint Statement are related to the Taiwan question. First, in the opening paragraphs, it is written that the Japanese side “reaffirms its position that it intends to realize the normalization of relations between the two countries from the stand of fully understanding ‘the three principles for resuming diplomatic relations’ put forward by the Government of the People’s Republic of China.” Then Article 2 says that “the Government of Japan recognizes that Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China.” And Article 3 says that “the Government of the People’s Republic of China reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China.
The Government of Japan fully understands and respects this stand of the Government of the People’s Republic of China, and it firmly maintains its stand under Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation.”In 1978, the two countries signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship Between China and Japan, which explicitly stated that the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement “constitutes the basis for relations of peace and friendship between the two countries and that the principles set out in that statement should be strictly observed.”
The treaty affirmed the principles and contents of the joint statement in legal terms and set out the legal parameters for China-Japan relations. In 1998, the two sides released the China-Japan Joint Declaration on Building a Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development, in which Japan undertook to “continue to maintain its stand on the Taiwan question which was set forth in the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement” and “reiterated its understanding that there is one China.”
It’s stated in the document that Japan will continue to only maintain its exchanges of private and regional nature with Taiwan, which ruled out the legal possibility of Japan developing official relations with Taiwan. In 2008, the China-Japan Joint Statement on All-round Promotion of Strategic Relationship of Mutual Benefit stipulated clearly in Article 5 that “The Japanese side reiterated that it will continue to abide by its position on the Taiwan question stated in the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement.”
The above is what is laid out in the four political documents between China and Japan regarding the Taiwan question. It constitutes the solemn commitment made by the Japanese government and has a legal effect under international law.
There is no room whatsoever for ambiguity or misinterpretation. Whichever political party or person is in power in Japan, they must always abide by the commitment of the Japanese government on the Taiwan question. We urge Japan to approach history and relations with China in a responsible way, stop crossing the line and playing with fire, retract the wrongful remarks and seriously act to honor Japan’s commitment to China.Ⅳ.Global Governance Initiative.
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