US is still affirming Taiwan’s sovereignty
By Paul Lin 林保華
Taipei Times 2024.4.10
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) went to China this month to pay obeisance, adding to the perception of him “loving China and opposing the US.” Meanwhile, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chair Laura Rosenberger made a last-minute trip to Taiwan from March 31 to last Saturday, yet during her stay, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) was nowhere to be found. Did he go to Washington to report that something had happened within the KMT?
Signed in 1952, the San Francisco Peace Treaty, which settled affairs in the Pacific after World War II, never designated who would possess sovereignty over Taiwan and Penghu after Japan relinquished ownership. This was handed over to the US from Japan after World War II. The US passed Taiwan to Chinese Nationalist hands in a trusteeship framework, though Taiwan’s ultimate fate rested in US hands. The Taiwan Relations Act is a US domestic law. The act has a higher status than an international treaty and there is a reason for that.