ROC President Ma Ying-jeou launched the International Conference of the 70th Anniversary of the Cairo Declaration Dec. 1 at Academia Historica in Taipei City, commemorating an event considered to have helped restore peace and order in East Asia following World War II.
“The landmark press communique provided the legal foundation for the return of Taiwan and Penghu to the ROC after the second world war,” Ma said. “This proves that Taiwan is an inherent part of the nation’s territory.”
Organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with National Chengchi University and Chinese Society of International Law, both based in Taipei, the one-day event was attended by more than 140 experts, officials and scholars from Japan, the Netherlands, U.K. and U.S.
As part of anniversary celebrations, a special exhibition is being staged at Academia Historica through Jan. 25, with historical documents, letters, photographs and video clips furnished by institutions and news agencies from home and abroad.
According to Ma, the Cairo Conference, held in 1943 by late President Chiang Kai-shek, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was one of 14 Allied summits staged during World War II and the first attended by the ROC.
Issued simultaneously in the three nations’ capital cities following talks in the Egyptian capital, the declaration stipulates the return of territories stolen by Japan, including Taiwan, to the ROC. It is seen as playing a major role in reshaping the political landscape of East Asia in the post-second world war era.
The declaration also resolved that Japan would be expelled from all other territories it had taken by violence and that Korea should become free and independent.
Ma said that although some question the official nature of the declaration, “there is no question that any commitment or decision made by a country’s leader is considered legally binding from the perspective of international law.”
The declaration was repeatedly mentioned in important documents issued after the war, including the Potsdam Proclamation and Japan’s Imperial Rescript of the Termination of the War and Instrument of Surrender, all in 1945, and is contained in the Treaties and Other International Agreements of the U.S., 1776-1949, Statues at Large and U.N. Treaty Series, the President added.
In light of rising tensions in East Asia following mainland China’s recent decision to establish an East China Sea air defense identification zone, the president reaffirmed ROC sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands, stating that government would express its firm stance on the ADIZ matter to Beijing.
“All parties involved should refrain from taking any actions that might escalate the current situation and start negotiations to transform the East China Sea into a region of cooperation and peace,” he said. (SFC-JSM)
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mofa.gov.tw