Date:
March 27, 2006 (Monday) 3:00 pm
Location:
Taiwan University Alumni Association Bldg,
No. 2-1 Ji-nan Road, Sec. 1, Taipei
Taiwan
Organizers:
Taiwan Defense Alliance, Civil Party, Farmer's Party, Taiwan Nation Party, Su Nan-cheng Think-tank
Details
- This March 27th (Mon.) Press Conference is to announce our plan to go to the American Institute in Taiwan's Taipei Office on March 29th (Wed.) from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. We will demand that the Department of State accept the applications of native Taiwanese persons for US national (non-citizen) passports. We have already been in touch with the American Institute in Taiwan about this.
Our 35 page "Statement of Historical and Legal Evidence for US Nationality Status" has already been submitted to key members of the US Congress (House of Representatives, Senate) for review.
- Based on our extensive legal research, Taiwan is undetermined, unorganized, unincorporated territory of the United States Military Government and currently in "interim status". Hence, the Taiwanese are entitled to hold US national (non-citizen) passports.
The form of administration by which an occupying power exercises government authority over occupied territory is called "military government." For a territorial cession, the military government of the principal occupying power does not end with the coming into force of the peace treaty, but continues until legally supplanted. Taiwan is a territorial cession under Article 2b of the Senate-ratified San Francisco Peace Treaty.
According to the Hague Conventions of 1907, the date of October 25, 1945 can only be interpreted as the beginning of the military occupation of Taiwan. Military occupation is conducted under "military government," and the United States has delegated the military occupation of Taiwan to the ROC. United States Military Government (USMG) in Taiwan has begun as of October 25, 1945.
- Under the US Constitution, Taiwan is a Type 1 Insular Area. Based on the Insular Cases of the US Supreme Court, the Taiwanese people are entitled to "fundamental rights" under the US Constitution.
Our analysis of the types and origin of US Insular Areas is more detailed and authoritative than given in the Department of State's Foreign Affairs Manuals.
The Committee on Resources of the US House of Representatives is in charge of overseeing US Insular Areas. Congressman Richard Pombo of California's 11th Congressional District is the Chairman of this Committee.
Congressman Pombo's District includes the following cities
(San Joaquin County)
Clements, Escalon, Linden, Lockeford, Morada, Farmington, Lodi, Manteca, Ripon, Stockton, Tracy, Woodbridge
(Alameda County)
Dublin, Pleasanton, Sunol
(Contra Costa County)
Brentwood, Danville, San Ramon, Blackhawk, Byron, Diablo, Discovery Bay
(Santa Clara County)
Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin
- This event is a follow-up to our What Are You Doing? September 20, 2005 "advertorial" in the Washington Post which explained the true facts of Taiwan's international legal position.
Many of our supporters in the United States are urging Congressman Pombo's Office to launch a full investigation on this issue.
- World War II in the Pacific ended in 1945, and the San Francisco Peace Treaty came into effect in 1952. However, the true facts of Taiwan's undetermined status have yet to be fully clarified for the world community. The truth is that Taiwan has remained under the jurisdiction of the United States Military Government up to the present day.
A correct statement of Taiwan's international legal status can be derived directly from the San Francisco Peace Treaty. An authoritative article on "Understanding the San Francisco Peace Treaty's Disposition of Formosa and the Pescadores" was published in the Harvard Asia Quarterly, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. in the Fall of 2004.
- The Republic of China on Taiwan is a subordinate occupying power and a government in exile. The ROC is not recognized by any leading world nations. The San Francisco Peace Treaty did not specify that the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan was awarded to the Chinese Nationalists (ROC government).
Contact Persons
Richard W. Hartzell
Taipei, Taiwan (language: English)
Telephone: 0910 067 950 email: rgroup.tw@gmail.com
Dr. Roger C. S. Lin
Taipei, Taiwan (languages: Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese)
Telephone: 0952 603 979 email: rgroup.tw@gmail.com
Websites
(English) -- http://www.taiwanadvice.com/
(Chinese) -- http://www.taiwanbasic.com/tw/
** Banners for March 29 Demonstration **
in front of American Institute in Taiwan, Taipei, Taiwan
- Ms. Rice: Do you know that Taiwan is US territory?
- Taiwan is a Type 1 Insular Area of the USA.
- Why is the Taiwan Relations Act a domestic law of the USA?
- Taiwan was not awarded to the ROC in the San Francisco Peace Treaty.
- Powell said: "Taiwan does not enjoy sovereignty as a nation."
- Taiwan is not Chinese territory.
- Legally speaking, native Taiwanese persons are not ROC citizens!
- Oct. 25, 1945 was not "Taiwan Retrocession Day"
- Native Taiwanese persons should be holding US national passports.
- The ROC on Taiwan is a subordinate occupying power and government in exile.
- The ROC Ministry of Foreign Affairs should move to Kinmen and Matsu.
- Let Taiwan return to its original post-WWII legal position.
- Fully clarify the legal relationship between the USA and Taiwan!
- Support the One China Policy: Taiwan is Taiwan, and China is China!
- USMG should recommence its legal operations in Taiwan.
Press Release
March 29, 2006
During the period of WWII in the Pacific, all attacks against targets in the four main Japanese islands and (Japanese) Taiwan were conducted by US military forces. With reference to authoritative commentary on the US Constitution's "territorial clause" (Article 4, Section 3, Clause 2) going back to the early 1800's, this means that Taiwan has been acquired by the United States under the principle of conquest. The disposition of Taiwan territory must then be done according to the laws of war. This will mean that the United States is the (principal) occupying power, and United States Military Government will be in effect upon the surrender of Japanese troops.
As we know, the actual handling of the military occupation of Taiwan was delegated to Chiang Kai-shek (aka the Chinese nationalists or ROC government). October 25, 1945, was not Taiwan Retrocession Day, but only the beginning of the military occupation of Taiwan. In the post-war peace treaty, the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan was not awarded to the ROC government. Hence, Taiwan remains under the authority of the United States Military Government until finalization of political status.
Numerous US Supreme Court cases have affirmed that for a territorial cession, United States Military Government (USMG) does not end with the coming into force of the peace treaty, but continues until legally supplanted by a US government recognized civil government structure. (A very early reference is the 1853 case of Cross v. Harrison.) Article 4(b) of the San Francisco Peace Treaty (SFPT) confirms that USMG authority over Taiwan is active.
To date, however, there has been no official US government proclamation of the end of USMG administrative authority over Taiwan. Contrastingly, after the Spanish American War, USMG in Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam were all ended by formal proclamation.
Article 23 of the SFPT confirms that the United States is the "principal occupying power." Legal relationships arise from this fact, and not from a consideration of "what troops accepted the surrender".
As native inhabitants of an overseas territory under the jurisdiction of the United States, Taiwanese persons are entitled to "fundamental rights" under the US Constitution (see the 1901 case of Downes v. Bidwell.) Included in these are the Fifth Amendment provisions that no person shall "...be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law...."
Former Secretary Powell has already confirmed that Taiwan does not enjoy sovereignty as a nation. In fact, Taiwan is a territory under the jurisdiction of the United States. The ROC on Taiwan is merely a subordinate occupying power and government in exile.
The "liberty" of the Fifth Amendment includes the right to travel, and the right to travel includes the right to obtain a passport. According to the Dept. of State's Foreign Affairs Manuals and existing US Supreme Court precedent, Taiwanese persons are entitled to hold "US national non-citizen passports" in a similar fashion to the inhabitants of other US overseas territories after their acquisition.
Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Guam, and Taiwan were all acquired by the United States in an identical manner. The United States was the conqueror, and the (principal) occupying power, and there was a relinquishment of sovereignty by the "original owner" in the post-war peace treaty. These five areas all are (or were) insular areas of the United States.
As of Feb. 22, 2006, we have submitted a 35 page statement of "Historical and Legal Evidence for US Nationality Status" to AIT Taipei for transmission to the State Department. Additionally, we have written a six-page "Declaration of the Taiwan Status" which has been presented to AIT Taipei today, March 29th.
The Taiwanese people are anxious to begin applying for US national non-citizen passports.
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