Remarks at the Reception for Participants
in the International Conference on
Taiwan's Sovereign Status
April 17, 2008

Subject: Taiwan's legal status before April 28, 1952

After World War II, both the Allied Powers and Japan, which was defeated in the war, signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty. This gives the peace treaty a legal status far outweighing that of other documents. In this treaty, Japan renounces all right, title and claim to Formosa and the Pescadores, but it does not spell out to which nation Taiwan's sovereignty belongs. In other words, from a legal perspective, before the San Francisco Peace Treaty took effect on April 28, 1952, Taiwan was a Japanese territory occupied by the Allied Powers . . . . .

Chen Shui-bian
President
Republic of China (Taiwan)