Written by: Michael Shalonov
Edited by: Sean Tonra
"We’ve had a long-standing commitment to make sure that Taiwan has the means to defend itself. And we stand by that. The President does sit by that strongly. We want to make sure that no one takes any unilateral action that would disrupt the status quo with regard to Taiwan"
- Antony Blinken, 71st United States Secretary of State (2021-Present)
Regional tensions continue to escalate between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan, as both fight for their own version of legitimacy and national pride. Following the unprecedented civil war between the two warring parties for twenty-two years until 1949, the Chinese Communist Party proclaimed victory over the mainland while the Nationalists reluctantly fled to nearby Taiwan. Chairman Mao Zedong focused on re-establishing China as a formidable regional power through the fight for agricultural independence and the transition to nationwide industrialization. Hyperinflation and widespread corruption undermined the lives of millions. Meanwhile, Chinese armed forces, exhausted from the recent conflict, were delegated to protect the mainland and ensure the security of North Korea. A depleted and morally deprived Taiwan was left to fend for itself and make something of the small island. To this date, only fifteen states recognize Taiwan. The United States has unofficial relations with Taiwan, yet it has pledged to maintain its security. The recent exacerbation of tensions between China and Taiwan has many regional analysts focusing on whether foreign nations can insert themselves into a conflict.
Taiwan is currently not a member of the United Nations. Under international law, while it does possess certain qualities like citizenship, government, and sovereignty, Taiwan is not a formal state since it lacks foreign recognition. The People’s Republic of China has claimed sovereignty over the neighboring island and has forced other nations to accept this falsehood as a condition to establish diplomatic relations (Wang). With the lack of state recognition, under the U.N. Charter, Taiwan has no right to ask allies to help in a state of conflict. Moreover, countries cannot deny Taiwan is a state but defend it as if it were. The long-standing argument is that China has a right to take back a former piece of its territory, similar to how the United States did the same during its civil war. Many nations and intergovernmental organizations abide by the belief that, despite their own support for democracy, assisting Taiwan constitutes an illegal use of force with criminal aggression.
The reality is we need to reform such a perception by classifying Taiwan as a “de facto” state. Building from the nation-like qualities mentioned earlier, Taiwan has possessed its own governing ideology, ethnic people, and self-defense capabilities. Taiwan is no less of a nation than France. The difference is a powerful entity like China has undermined the due foreign recognition towards Taiwan by blackmailing the diplomatic relations with other countries. The international community’s acceptance of a one country, two-system framework is simply running contrary to reality. Taiwan has its own government, military, democratic ideology, and ethnic identity. Following the decades since the Chinese Civil War, the contrast between the two has never been clearer. As noted by legal scholars, Taiwan’s lack of global recognition is solely due to China permeating its “One China” ideology through its critical relations with the international community (Saul). Taiwan, on the other hand, has done little to reject the ideological framework as its constitution still bears claim to the Chinese mainland.
Taiwan’s unwillingness to cut its historical ties with the Chinese mainland is understandable, yet it should not make them any less a state. Again, a state is defined by its territory, government, population, and capacity to engage with other states. Despite claims by global critics, the truth is Taiwan does have the capacity and will to develop relations with other states yet is denied the opportunity by Communist China’s global influence. Taiwan does meet the standards of being a state outside external limitations and definitely makes up the grounds of a “de facto” society with its own governed way of life. A “de facto” state, according to international law, does have a right to self-defense. As a result, the United States and other allied nations have the right to contribute to the self-defense of Taiwan. China is exploiting the U.N Charter to maintain “on paper” sovereignty over Taiwan, a separate fledging democracy. The world cannot be numb to the reality that Taiwan has been a separate, independent country for decades with no ties or jurisdiction towards China. The United Nations should view the legality of global interventionism in Taiwan from an independent angle based on regional facts rather than adopting a “one size fits all” framework for the rules of conflict.
[The views expressed in this article are those of the author and the author alone; they do not necessarily represent the views of all members of the first RULR Editorial Board and Rutgers University.]
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