Recognition Of The Chen ShuiBian Government In

Recognition Of The Chen Shui-Bian Government In Taiwan Essay, Research Paper

Current United States policy towards the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan is the culmination of nearly three decades of trilateral diplomatic activity and is based, ostensibly, upon four policy documents. These cornerstones of Sino-American relations are the Joint U.S.-China Communiqu. of Shanghai, China, issued on February 27, 1972 ; the Joint Communiqu. on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations Between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China, issued on January 1, 1979 ; United States Public Law 96-8, known as the Taiwan Relations Act, approved April 10, 1979 ; and the U.S.-China Joint Communiqu., issued August 17, 1982 .

In light of recent Presidential elections in Taiwan, which, based upon the campaign rhetoric of the prevailing party, would seem to put Taiwan on a much more direct course towards declaring outright independence as a sovereign state, distinct and apart from mainland China, the assignment of this reviewer is to determine if revision of the United States’ one China policy is warranted or in fact legal under international law.

In order to accomplish this analysis, it is necessary to clearly understand the evolution of the underlying doctrines of Sino-American relations cited above and how the Taiwanese elections affect continued observance of these tenets.

Sino-American Relations – the Evolution

At the beginning of the 1970’s, the United States, perhaps with the aim of widening the Sino-Soviet schism that had developed between the two countries, began to pursue a policy aimed at recognizing the communist People’s Republic of China as the legitimate government of China .

A series of dialogues between the United States and the People’s Republic of China at the lower echelons of the diplomatic hierarchy gradually escalated, culminating in President Nixon’s February 1972 trip to China.

To be sure, President Nixon unequivocally prefaced that this excursion to mainland China should not be construed by the international community as official recognition by the United States of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legitimate Chinese government; that de jure recognition was to come several years later. However, the trip clearly evidenced the United States’ desire to normalize relations between the two nations, with the Joint Communiqu. issued at the end of the trip laying the ground work for future Sino-American interactions.

As expressed in that Communiqu., issued in Shanghai on February 27, 1972, both nations affirmed that:

. progress toward the normalization of relations between China and the United States is in the interests of all countries;

. both wish to reduce the danger of international military conflict;

. neither should seek hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region…

The Chinese re-affirmed that they were “…the sole legal government of China…” and that the liberation of Taiwan was an internal matter to be determined by China alone, and that the resolution of the Taiwan question was crucial to normalized Sino-American relations.

For its part, the United States acknowledged that “…there is but one China…” with Taiwan being part of China, that the Chinese should peacefully resolve the issue themselves, and finally, towards that end, the United State’s ultimate objective is withdrawal of all U.S. forces and military installations on Taiwan.

With the seed of normalization rooted in the 1972 talks, formal recognition between the People’s Republic of China and the United States, with its concomitant “derecognition” of Taiwan as the official government of China, occurred on January 1, 1979, via a joint communiqu. establishing diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the People’s Republic of China. Included in the language of the communiqu. however, is the sentiment, expressed by the United States, that within the context of recognizing the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, the United States would “…maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial [emphasis added] relations with the people of Taiwan.”

To that end, the United States Congress enacted Public Law 98-6, The Taiwan Relations Act, signed into law on April 12, 1979, with the intent of creating an infrastructure under which the United States could legally, in the international arena, maintain unofficial relations with Taiwan.

Under the provisions of the Act, the United States has created, in domestic statute, an obligation to:

. preserve and promote extensive, close and friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people of Taiwan, as well as the people on the China mainland… [emphasis added]

. provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character… [emphasis added] and

. maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people of Taiwan; and

. make available to Taiwan such defensive articles and services in quantities necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.

Additionally, the Act provided that the absence of diplomatic relations or recognition would not affect the application of the laws of

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