In a statement, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de facto US embassy, has accused China of deliberately mischaracterizing historical World War II-era documents to pressure and isolate Taiwan. The AIT claims that none of these accords made a definitive determination on the island’s ultimate political status.
Differing Interpretations
China argues that documents like the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation support its legal claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Beijing’s position is that these documents, along with the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, clearly confirm that Taiwan was to be “restored” to Chinese rule after being a Japanese colony.
However, the AIT and Taiwan’s government contend that these narratives are “simply false.” They argue that none of these documents determined Taiwan’s final political status. They also point out that the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the current government in Beijing, did not exist when these agreements were made. The Chinese government at the time was the Republic of China (ROC), which later fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists.
The AIT also referenced the Treaty of San Francisco, signed in 1951, where Japan renounced its claims to Taiwan. However, this pact left the island’s sovereignty unresolved. Beijing dismisses this treaty as “illegal and invalid” because it was not a party to it.
