Truth of Taiwan's status cannot be denied: China Daily editorial

Although the secessionist-minded Lai Ching-te authorities of Taiwan try and portray themselves as "democratic", what they have been doing has been anything but.

Apart from muffling voices that differ from theirs in the island's society, purging elements that they baselessly label as colluding with "external hostile forces" and arbitrarily attacking opposition parties, the Democratic Progressive Party authorities led by Lai also seek to distort history to serve their "pro-independence" and de-Sinicization agenda.

They seem convinced that "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past". But their tricks are easily discernible as they have to call white black, creating historical crevices that are too wide to fill with lies.

The Lai authorities have recently claimed that after World War II, the Treaty of San Francisco took the place of political statements, such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, adding that the Treaty did not hand over Taiwan to the People's Republic of China.

Such arguments are falsehoods concocted by the DPP authorities long before Lai took office. They disregard historical facts and contradict international legal principles. Such attempts to exploit the Treaty to distort the truth to support "Taiwan independence" are utterly groundless.

The Treaty was signed in 1951 under the manipulation of the United States with no Chinese representative involved, including in the preceding negotiations. The Treaty is not legally binding on China, and the DPP authorities' attempt to use it as a "legal proof" to support their "pro-independence" claims for Taiwan has no legitimacy in international law.

The Treaty they quoted contravenes the provisions of the Declaration by United Nations signed by 26 countries — including China, the US, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union — in 1942, and goes against the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law.

Anything set out in the document, including the sovereignty over Taiwan or the handling of the territory and sovereign rights of China as a nonsignatory, is thus entirely illegal, null and void.

A series of international instruments, including the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, clearly define China's sovereignty over Taiwan, declaring it to be a part of China, which is a solid fact rooted in history and the law beyond any doubt. These instruments constitute the unchallengeable outcome of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and an important part of the postwar international order.

On Oct 1, 1949, the PRC was founded, and the Central People's Government became the sole legal government representing the whole of China. The change of government took place while China remained unchanged as a subject of international law. China's sovereignty and inherent territory did not change.

As a natural result, the government of the PRC fully enjoys and exercises China's sovereignty, including sovereignty over Taiwan. The so-called Treaty of San Francisco is an illegal and invalid instrument issued by some countries gathered by the US years after the end of WWII to separately make peace with Japan excluding the PRC and despite the Soviet Union's objection.

The Lai authorities have chosen to be blind to these facts. Last week they also tried to use "the end of war" rhetoric to whitewash Japan's unconditional surrender at the 80th anniversary of that event.

The Lai authorities have disregarded the outcomes of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) and deliberately distorted the history of WWII. This is simply contemptible.

The fact-distorting and misleading rhetoric related to the Treaty once again lays bare the nefarious separatist nature of the Lai authorities.

A poll released by the island's TVBS News last week shows that only 28 percent of respondents are satisfied with Lai's governance of the region, while 55 percent are dissatisfied, marking a record low in Lai's approval ratings since he took office in May last year.

That should serve as an acute reminder that the Taiwan residents are not that easily hoodwinked by Lai's "pro-independence" endeavors. Refusing to seek truth from facts, the Lai authorities' latest WWII-related lie-telling campaign indicates they have chosen to turn a deaf ear to the people's call. In doing so, they have to tell more lies to cover up the previous one resulting in their "democracy" model being downgraded to a doomed Orwellian fable.

No matter what the Lai authorities say or do, it cannot alter the fact that Taiwan is part of China — an undeniable truth that is supported by both history and international law. Nor can they change the prevailing international commitment to the one-China principle, still less change the course of China's reunification.