How far will Biden go with the Taiwan card against China?
At the same time, Secretary of State Dean Acheson said: “The Chinese administered Formosa for four years. Neither the United States nor any other ally ever challenged this authority and occupation. When Formosa was declared a. province of China, no one had any legal doubts about it.” In 1949, 7.PRC was established.
The situation changed drastically with the outbreak of the Korean War. President Truman ordered the Seventh Fleet to enter the Taiwan Strait in June 1950. He also declared that "determination of the future status of Formosa must await the restoration of security in the Pacific, a peace settlement with Japan, or consideration by the United Nations". Under the Instrument of Surrender, Japan renounced all claims to these areas, but they were not transferred to China. This position was adopted to provide a legal basis for the deployment of the Seventh Fleet in the Taiwan Strait, an area that would be "Chinese territory" if Taiwan were accepted as part of China.
In 1952, Japan signed a peace treaty with the Allies and "relinquished all rights, titles and claims to Taiwan and the Pescadores, as well as the Spratley Islands and the Paracel Islands". Again, Taiwan was not handed over to China.
For a quarter of a century, the US held the ROC regime as the de facto government of the island of Taiwan. Its position changed in 1972. In the Shanghai Communiqué, the US stated: "The United States recognizes that all Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait maintain that there is only 'One China' and that Taiwan is part of China." The United States government this position is not in question."
Few communiques have been drafted with such care and after such long negotiations as the famous Shanghai Communiqué issued after President Nixon's trip to China in 1972. Its text had been settled earlier by Henry Kissinger and Zhou Enlai. It was based on the principle that there is "one China", i.e. Taiwan was part of China.
Taiwan was expelled from the UN and China's seat on the Security Council was taken by the PRC. In December 1971, the PRC sided with its ally Pakistan. Japan was shocked by the Shanghai Communiqué. This provides a lesson to those who are now courting the US or any superpower. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev showed Afghan President Najibullah the door with brutal language.
How far will Biden go with the Taiwan card against China? China is in no rush to take over Taiwan by force. But it rejected all suggestions that it distance itself from the use of force against Taiwan - it is a domestic matter, not an international one. However, this did little to convince and even less tempt Taiwan to voluntarily rejoin China. The Hong Kong experience was unfortunate. President Xi Jinping will not be intimidated by Biden's stance. But uncertainty remains. China's military power can reach the US. The best solution is for the US to repeat the "One China" formula itself and propose the return of Taiwan to China with guarantees of autonomy and respect for its democratic system.
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