Taiwan Civil Government used the occasion of the 59th anniversary of the implementation of the San Francisco Peace Treaty to petition the American Institute in Taiwan for a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The group is headed by a former Republic of China in-exile Justice Minister, Cheng Chung-mo, and legal researcher Roger Lin.
Lin spoke outside the AIT to a crowd of an estimated 600 supporters. The United States officials always take note of Lin’s annual demonstrations against the ROC control of Taiwan. Cheng and Lin are two of the island’s most vocal proponents of action by the U.S. to ensure the island’s residents achieve self-determination.
Taiwan’s unique stateless condition is an artifact of the Cold War and has persisted for six decades since the end of World War II. The United States, which under the SFPT is the “principal occupying Power” of Taiwan, allowed the defeated Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang regime of dictator Chiang Kai-shek to set up an exile government on the island.
The Formosan people, under Japanese rule before World War II, were denied self-determination and not permitted to seek independence under ROC occupation. Chiang and later his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, ruled Taiwan with a cruel and harsh martial law for forty years following the infamous 228 Massacre committed by ROC troops in February 1947.
The District of Columbia U.S. Court of Appeals called Taiwan’s “strategic ambiguity” a “political purgatory” in a passport case Roger Lin, et al vs. United States of America. In a decision left undisturbed by the U.S. Supreme Court, the federal appellate court urged President Barack Obama to act expeditiously to resolve Taiwan’s status.
Roger Lin is unable to travel outside Taiwan because he refuses to use an ROC passport saying the Republic of China in-exile is not his country. Lin’s lawsuit sought American passports for Taiwan’s residents until self-determination as a nation can be achieved. The court demurred saying the matter was political not legal despite the court’s obvious sympathy with the plight of the Taiwanese people.
AIT representative Sheila Paskman accepted the formal request from TCG outside the defacto U.S. embassy building where the rally was held in Taipei.
The TCG message asked for a “dialogue” with Hillary Clinton regarding Taiwan Civil Government and reporting requirements of Political Action Committees and the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The group also wants to discuss Taiwan’s “stateless” condition and applicability of the Overseas Voting Act for U.S. citizens residing in Taiwan.
TCG also wants Clinton to get the Defense Department involved with a military government to conduct Taiwan’s civil affairs in lieu of the exiled Republic of China government. TCG urges enforcement of the San Francisco Peace Treaty responsibility to the people of Taiwan.
For further information on Taiwan’s status click HERE
Source: Michael Richardson - Boston Progressive Examiner
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