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One China Principle Tallies With International Law
The one China principle is based not only on undeniable facts but also on international law, says a bylined article published Monday in our Daily.
The one China principle took shape in the course of the Chinese people's struggle to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Abiding by this principle is the prerequisite to solving the Taiwan issue and reaching the peaceful reunification of the motherland, our paper says.
Under international law, the status of a state is not affected by the change of its name. The current name of the state was approved by the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference held in Beijing in 1949. Now, any mention of China is a reference to the People's Republic of China.
International law supports the status of Taiwan as an integral part of China. Through the end of the 19th century, all previous governments in China held jurisdiction over Taiwan.
The Cairo Declaration issued by China, the United States and Britain in 1943 is an international document detailing the status of Taiwan. It affirms the illegality of Japanese aggression against Taiwan. Japan surrendered in August 1945, and the then Chinese government resumed the exercise of sovereignty over Taiwan and the Penghu Islands on October 25 the same year. On October 26, the then Chinese government proclaimed that Taiwan is a province of China.
Though Taiwan is still separated from the Chinese mainland, it should never be turned into a sovereign state under the name of the "Republic of China," and the separation doesn't mean that the two sides of the Taiwan Straits can become two sovereign states.
And the Chinese people cannot brook separation of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the article notes.
The state of separation on both sides of the Taiwan Straits is an issue left over by the civil war of China in the 1940s. As to how to resolve that issue is entirely China's internal affair. The separation has nothing to do with China's legal status as a sovereign state or China's territorial integrity.
The continued separation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is the result of foreign interference and separatist activities in Taiwan, the article says.
In fact, since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, it has never tolerated comments on the "undecided status of Taiwan", "one China, one Taiwan" or "Two Chinas." On the contrary, it has always upheld its right to exercise sovereignty over Taiwan and will never relinquish this right, the paper says.
The separation between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits is abnormal and temporary -- the situation cannot last indefinitely.
And it should not be the basis for Taiwan to proclaim itself a sovereign state, the article notes.
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