Abstract
The legal status of Taiwan has been controversial, which is mainly due to the occupation over Taiwan and Pescadores Islands since 1945, and is even more controversial after 1971 when the R.O.C. has been fully de-recognized by the international community through the resolution of UNGA. Thus Taiwan has consequently been led to the dilemmas in the international community. According to the “Taiwan Relations Act (TRA)”, which has entered into force since 1979, Taiwan could still possess its status as semi-international entity and enjoy its commercial and cultural activities with the United States. Furthermore, the U.S. can keep its arm sales to Taiwan for defensive purpose, which may well be interpreted as a legal regime to guarantee the right of self-determination for the Taiwanese by creating a sui generis international entity, and to prevent the island from any threaten to change the status quo. This article first study the legal status of Taiwan since World War II, interpreting the legal implication of the prolonged occupation by the R.O.C. over Taiwan. Then to reckon and verify the legal consequence of the occupation through the articles of the “TRA”, including its legislation purpose and background, before and after the Act entry into force, and the judicial practice of the Act, which evidences the non-transferal of the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan since occupation. With the acquiescence of interested countries and the subsequent practice of both the executive and legislative departments of the United States this article concludes that the Act actually constitutes a distinctive effect of customary international law and therefore institutes a sui generis international entity over the island. The protected human rights under this Act, which includes the process of decolonization through the preservation of the right of self-determination for Taiwanese further evidence the same proposition. The pro-longed occupation of Taiwan will ceased to continue since the legal status preserved by the Act is never intended to be persistent, and one could foresee the prospect envisioned by “TRA” to pave a legitimate pathway for Taiwan to develop as a normalized state.