Taiwan is Occupied by

U.S. Government Troops

Beijing, December 4, 1978: Meeting between Chief of the Liaison Office in China, Leonard Woodcock, and PRC Vice Foreign Minister Han Nien-lung

Han:

"Since July 5, we have had five sessions on the question of the normalization of relations between China and the United States.

"The Chinese side is ready to work with the U.S. side for the early normalization of relations between the two countries on the basis of the Shanghai Communique.

"Now we would like to state the views of the Chinese side with respect to the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the U.S.

"First, as is known to all, the Taiwan question is the crucial issue obstructing the normalization of relations between China and the U.S. This question is caused by the U.S. Government’s occupation with troops of China’s territory of Taiwan province and its interference in China’s internal affairs."

. . . . .

excerpted from the U.S. Dept. of State, Office of the Historian, https://history.state.gov/ website

Historical PRC Views on the U.S. Military Occupation of Taiwan

(1) On Nov. 28, 1950 (nearly fourteen months after the founding of the PRC on Oct. 1, 1949), Mr. Wu Hsiu-chuan, representative of the Central People's Government of the PRC, delivered a lengthy speech in the United Nations Security Council, regarding the armed aggression of the United States' in its invasion and military occupation of Taiwan.

Official Records of the Security Council,
Fifth Year, 527th Meeting, Nov. 28, 1950

Official Records of the Security Council, Fifth Year, 527th Meeting, Nov. 28, 1950

(2) INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY STUDY, Series A, LIMITS IN THE SEAS, No. 43, STRAIGHT BASELINES: PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA. July 1, 1972.

quote:
"The Taiwan and Penghu areas are still occupied by the United States by armed force."

Re-Issued by the Geographer,
US Dept. of State, Bureau of
Intelligence and Research.
[ Quoting from official announcements
of the government of the People's
Republic of China in Sept. 1958 ]

Re-Issued by the Geographer, US Dept. of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
[ Quoting from official announcements of the government
of the People's Republic of China in Sept. 1958 ]

A statement issued on September 4 by the PRC Government declared a 12-mile limit for Chinese territorial waters. The final paragraph reads:

"The Taiwan and Penghu areas are still occupied by the United States by armed force. This is an unlawful encroachment on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the People's Republic of China. Taiwan, Penghu and such other areas are yet to be recovered, and the Government of the People's Republic of China has the right to recover these areas by all suitable means at a suitable time. This is China's internal affair, in which no foreign interference is tolerated."

Text is in American Foreign Policy: Current Documents, 1958, p. 1199.

history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/
frus1958-60v19/d66

https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v19/d66

Despite the fact that Taiwan is under Military Occupation by the United States . . . . .

Does the policy of the US government firmly recognize that Taiwan belongs to China?

(1) In the Joint Communiques, the United States "acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States does not challenge that position."

(2) During the preceding negotiations for the establishment of diplomatic relations in late 1978, President Carter gave strict instructions to the US negotiators to reject the Chinese position that Taiwan was a "Province of China." In the final draft, the Communique only stated that the US "acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is a part of China."

(3) Thus the US said it "acknowledges" the Chinese position ….. but did not endorse it. Both the 1972 Communique and the 1979 Communique did not state affirmatively that the US recognized that Taiwan was part of China.

(4) As members of the White House staff later explained, "By only acknowledging 'the Chinese position,' the United States did not adopt it or claim it as its own."

(5) In the 1979 Joint Communique, the United States switched diplomatic recognition from the ROC to the PRC. But did the United States agree that Taiwan is part of China?

(6) Stating that "Taiwan is part of China" is the Chinese position. However, nowhere in any Communique does it say that the US agrees with China's position.

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