The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said.

An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China.

The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger.

The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position.

They added that the US would continue to support Taiwan in the face of military, economic, legal and diplomatic pressure from China, and that the US, together with its international partners, firmly supports peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and opposes any unilateral attempts to change the “status quo,” especially through force or coercion, the newspaper said.

Former AIT chairman Richard Bush and former AIT deputy director Robert Wang (王曉岷) said in separate e-mails that the US does not consider the political status of Taiwan to have been determined by any World War II-era documents, and that Washington expects the issue to be resolved peacefully.

Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen, front, third left, speaks at a news conference outside the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday, urging the government to make clear to the world that “Taiwan is not the Republic of China, and that Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other.”

Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times

Wang cited the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), a 1979 US law governing its exchanges with Taiwan after Washington switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing.

The act made clear that “the United States decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China [PRC] rests upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means,” he quoted the act as saying.

“In other words, the TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the political status of Taiwan to have been determined by any previous documents, including the World War II-era declarations or treaties,” he wrote.

Bush shared a similar view, saying that the US has long stated that “cross-strait differences should be resolved peacefully and with the assent of the people of Taiwan.”

On Aug. 15, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said that the 1943 Cairo Declaration and 1945 Potsdam Proclamation “clearly defined Japan’s responsibility for the war and required that Japan return all the territories it had stolen from China, including Taiwan.”

He said that was “an indisputable outcome of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and constitutes an important part of the postwar international order.”

An unnamed AIT spokesperson said that Beijing “intentionally mischaracterizes” World War II-era documents, including the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the Treaty of San Francisco, “to try to support its coercive campaign to subjugate Taiwan.”

“Beijing’s narratives are simply false, and none of these documents determined Taiwan’s ultimate political status,” the spokesperson said. “False legal narratives are part of Beijing’s broader campaign to try to isolate Taiwan from the international community and constrain the sovereign choices of other countries regarding their interactions with Taiwan.”

The AIT’s comments on the issue echoed Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung’s (林佳龍) Aug. 16 statement rebuking Wang’s remarks.

Lin said that after World War II, the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty — binding under international law — superseded the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation.

The treaty did not cede Taiwan to the PRC, and the PRC has never governed Taiwan, he said.

Lin said that the Republic of China (ROC) is the “sole legitimate government” administering Taiwan and representing it internationally.

He added that this established the cross-strait “status quo” in which the ROC and the PRC exist as equals, with neither subordinate to the other.