Although the mission of the Taiwan Documents Project
is to examine what international law says about the status of Taiwan, the law is only one
of several issues one must look at in considering Taiwan's status. Indeed, legal issues
are relatively unimportant in the dispute over Taiwan because evidence from international
law, as well as current norms for resolving such disputes, are so overwhelmingly against
the position of one of the disputants that she rarely ever presses her claims based on the
law. Even if international law was more equivocal on the question of Taiwan, legal
considerations can only be expected to matter to regimes that respect the rule of law, domestically and internationally,
and that are willing to fulfill their obligations as responsible members of the
international community.
This
area of the Taiwan Documents Project will, therefore, explore non-legal determinants for
Taiwan's status and will evaluate arguments put forward by Chinese officials and
academics in support of China's claims to Taiwan. All of these arguments are predicated on
the assertion that, based on history, geography, geology, culture, language, and race,
Taiwanese are Chinese and Taiwan is a part of China. Each of these arguments will be
carefully and fairly evaluated, and readers are invited to offer comment.
In
addition to assessing the arguments put forward by the Chinese side, the Taiwan Documents
Project will examine two issues that the Chinese have dismissed as irrelevant to the
resolution of the Taiwan Question: Human rights and self-determination and the impact on
global security of alternative solutions to the dispute.
Contents:
- History
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Geology
- Geography
- Self-determination and Human Rights
- Global Security
- Conclusions
Methods recognised under
international law for acquiring sovereignty
Summary of international
agreements dealing with sovereignty over Taiwan
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