Taiwan Status: In memory of Prof. Jams Crawford by HoonTing 20210701

One who is committed to studying international law must have a passion for Jurisprudence because international law is not knowledge of consulting and applying legal provisions, but knowledge of finding a way out from cases and principles.

James Crawford, a notable Australian scholar of international law, died on May 31st.  His major was the creation of a new state and the status and human rights.  His book “The Creation of States in International Law” has become a classic.  Taiwan is a case study in its section “The Criteria for Statehood Applied: Some Special Cases.”  As a researcher of the issue, I translated the part of Taiwan in 2015 with my colleague.

Like Daniel Patrick O'Connell, an international professor of Oxford University, James Crawford asserted that other states can't recognize the authority of territory if the latter did not claim independence first.  Many Taiwan independent advocates and scholars follow the same tone and expect the DPP administration to declare Taiwan independence unilaterally.

However, even James Crawford and O’Connell do admit that Taiwan is exceptional, without explaining the reason further. I presume that they might not be able to understand the situation.

The Chen Sui-Bian administration has tried, at least in a way, to declare independence; yet he received severe objections from the international community.  It is not true that Taiwan reluctant to declare independence.  It just can not be doing so.  Why is that?

The issue of the status of Taiwan was generated from the end of the Pacific War when a proxy military occupation led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek under the instruction of the United Nations happened because of the surrender of the Japanese Empire.  The future of Taiwan must be solved in a way by the members: the victors, Japan, and the Governing Authority on Taiwan to make a treaty, which authorizes the people of Taiwan to voice in a referendum.  And the U.S., the Principal Occupying Power as stipulated in the Treaty of Peace with Japan, and the fact of war credit, has supreme power to manage the whole process.

Not considering the occupation laws and the model of the political reconstruction, scholars can not figure out the complete legal base and the road map for Taiwan's future, in which the shift of power is no doubt the critical concept.