China hangs tough on Taiwan sovereignty

The People's Republic of China’s Ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Chen Daojiang, gave notice on Tuesday that his country will never again cede sovereignty of Taiwan, declaring that this issue is an internal one that must be resolved by the Chinese.

“We firmly oppose interference by any outside forces. Though the mainland and Taiwan have yet to be reunified, they belong to one and the same China. Taiwan is part of China’s territory.

“China highly appreciates the Jamaican Government’s long-standing adherence to the one-China principle and its firm support for China on the Taiwan question. China believes that Jamaica will continue to lend its precious support to China on the Taiwan question,” he told a panel of journalists. The Chinese ambassador spoke in Mandarin through his interpreter, Zhao Shiming.

The journalists had been invited to a media briefing on the one-year anniversary of his appointment, at 20 Seaview Avenue, Kingston, to provide an update on a number of topics, including China-Jamaica relations, China’s economic situation, the Belt and Road cooperation, and the hot topic of Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Ambassador Chen Daojiang declared that the future of Taiwan lies in China’s reunification and that the well-being of the people in Taiwan hinges on the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

“China is willing to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest sincerity and the utmost effort, but China will never promise to renounce the use of force, and it reserves the option of taking all necessary measures. This is directed solely at interference by outside forces and the few separatists seeking ‘Taiwan independence’ and their separatist activities; it is by no means target at our Taiwan compatriots. Use of force would be the last resort taken under compelling circumstances.”

In providing background to the current situation, Ambassador Chen Daojiang explained that in 1894, Japan launched a war of aggression against China. By April the next year, Japan defeated the Chinese government, which was forced to cede Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan. However, under the Cairo Declaration issued by China, the United States of America and the United Kingdom in December 1943, it was agreed that all the territories Japan had stolen from China – Northeast China, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands – should be restored to China.

The Potsdam Proclamation, signed by China, the United States of America and the United Kingdom on July 26, 1945, and subsequently recognised by the Soviet Union, reiterated that “The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out.”

“In September of the same year, Japan signed the instrument of surrender in which it promised that it would faithfully fulfil the obligations laid down in the Potsdam Proclamation. On October 25, the Chinese government announced that it was resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Taiwan, and the ceremony to accept Japan’s surrender in Taiwan Province of the China war theatre of the Allied Powers was held in Taibei (Taipei). From that point forward, China had recovered Taiwan de jure and de facto, through a host of documents with international legal effect.”