Taiwan's return to China a vital part of post-World War II order

No one can split Taiwan from motherland

The ridiculous claim that Taiwan has an "undetermined status" is utterly baseless. In accordance with a series of legally binding international documents signed by the Allied powers during and after World War II, Taiwan was restored as an integral part of Chinese territory and the central government resumed effective jurisdiction over it on Oct 25, 1945.

Eighty years have passed since Taiwan's restoration, yet some individuals in the United States persist in recycling the outdated rhetoric of the so-called "undetermined status of Taiwan". Such claims are nothing but absurd.

Taiwan has always been part of Chinese territory. Japan forcibly occupied it following the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-95), and one of China's key objectives during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45) was to recover Taiwan. This demand was recognized and supported by the Allied powers in the global fight against fascism.

Taiwan's return to China on Oct 25, 1945, was both rightful and inevitable. For the past eight decades, the fact that Taiwan is part of China has been an undeniable historical and political reality.

No one has the right to deny the legality of instruments such as the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender — legally binding documents that stipulate the return of Taiwan to China. Nor can anyone ignore or dismiss the historical and political reality that Taiwan was restored to China in October 1945.

The so-called "undetermined status of Taiwan" is nothing but fallacy. From former US president Harry Truman to current US politicians, no one has the right to violate or deny the World War II-era legal instruments or refute the fact that Taiwan has always been an integral part of China.

Regardless of what certain individuals claim, Taiwan's status as part of China is unalterable and undeniable.

There has never been, and will never be, any room for the "undetermined status of Taiwan" narrative. The narrative is driven by ulterior motives, and such ill-intentioned attempts will never succeed. A handful of US politicians and anti-China forces seek to use this narrative as a "Taiwan card" to hinder China's efforts to achieve national reunification.

But today's China is no longer the weak, impoverished nation of the 1890s when the country was forced to cede territory and pay indemnities to foreign powers. Tempered by the World Anti-Fascist War and decades of rapid growth, China will not allow any force to separate Taiwan from the motherland.

Just as Truman's promotion of the "undetermined status of Taiwan" theory failed to alter the reality of Taiwan's return to China in the past, anti-China forces' attempt today to split Taiwan from the motherland will also fail.

Any attempt by anti-China forces to play the "Taiwan card" by peddling the "undetermined status of Taiwan" fallacy is doomed to failure.

Li Zhenguang is dean of the Institute of Taiwan Studies, Beijing Union University.