US says China spreading ‘false’ World War II narratives to pressure Taiwan

TAIPEI – China is intentionally mischaracterising World War II-era documents to put pressure on and isolate Taiwan given those agreements made no determination of the island’s ultimate political status, the de facto US embassy in Taipei said.

The 80th anniversary of the war’s end has been marked by a bitter dispute between Taipei and Beijing on its broader historical meaning and relevance today.

The Beijing government says documents like the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation support its legal claims of sovereignty over the island, as the wording states Taiwan was to be “restored” to Chinese rule, Taiwan being a Japanese colony at the time.

The Chinese government at the time was the Republic of China, which then in 1949 fled to Taiwan after losing a subsequent civil war with Mao Zedong’s communists.

Republic of China remains Taiwan’s formal name, and its government says no World War II agreements made any mention of Mao’s People’s Republic of China because it did not exist then, thus Beijing has no right to claim Taiwan now.

“China intentionally mischaracterises World War II-era documents, including the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the Treaty of San Francisco, to try to support its coercive campaign to subjugate Taiwan,” the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy, said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters on Sept 15. “Beijing’s narratives are simply false, and none of these documents determined Taiwan’s ultimate political status.” 

Japan signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, renouncing its claims to Taiwan, though the island’s sovereignty is left unresolved in it. Beijing says the treaty is “illegal and invalid” given that it was not a party to it.

China’s Foreign Ministry expressed “strong dissatisfaction” at the comments, saying they are misleading.

“A series of documents with legal effect, such as the Cairo Declaration and the Japanese surrender document, clearly confirm China’s sovereignty over Taiwan and the status of Taiwan,” ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in Beijing.

The US ended official ties with Taipei in 1979 when it recognised Beijing, but remains the island’s most important international backer.

Washington follows a “one China” policy, under which it officially takes no position on Taiwan’s sovereignty and only acknowledges China’s position on the subject.

“False legal narratives are part of Beijing’s broader campaign to try to isolate Taiwan from the international community and constrain the sovereign choices of other countries regarding their interactions with Taiwan,” added the American Institute in Taiwan.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sept 3 oversaw a massive military parade in Beijing to mark the war anniversary.

Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung expressed his thanks for the US mission’s statement.

“Our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and the People’s Republic of China has no right to represent Taiwan in the international community,” Mr Lin said in a statement. REUTERS