Recently, Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator from New Jersey Menendezand other congressmen visited Taiwan. The New York State Legislature passed a resolution backing Taiwan's participation in international organizations, calling for helping Taiwan to expand its so-called "international space". For some time, some US politicians have claimed that they “do not subscribe to the PRC’s ‘one China principle’” and remain committed to their“longstanding, bipartisan one China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, Three Joint Communiques, and Six Assurances.” In this regard, Deputy Consul General and spokesman of the People's Republic of China in New York Qian Jin notes that these words and deeds by the US side are to hollow out the one-China principle. This is not only a lack of basic historical common sense, but also raises doubts about its motives and intentions.

The Taiwan question has a clear historical background. The historical document “Seaboard Geographic Gazetteer” compiled 1,700 years ago gave an account of it. This was the world's earliest written account of Taiwan. From the 3rd to the 7th century, the State of Wu during the period of the Three Kingdoms and the Sui Dynasty sent many expeditions to Taiwan respectively, each totaling over 10,000 people. Since early 17th century the Chinese people began to step up the development of Taiwan. Started from the Yuan Dynasty, the Chinese governments of different periods set up administrative bodies to exercise effective jurisdiction over Taiwan. In mid 17th century, Dutch colonialists invaded and occupied Taiwan. National hero Zheng Chenggong expelled the Dutch colonialists in 1662 and recovered Taiwan. In 1895, owing to the defeat in the 1894-1895 Sino-Japanese War, the Qing government was forced to sign the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceding Taiwan and Penghu Islands to Japan.

In July 1937 during an all-out war of resistance against Japanese aggression. The Chinese government, in its declaration of war against Japan, proclaimed the abrogation of all unequal treaties concluded with Japan and declared the recovery of Taiwan and Penghu Islands. In 1945, Japan declared surrender and unconditionally accepted the Potsdam Proclamation and the Cairo Declaration, which are effective, legally binding treaties or agreements, and returned Taiwan to China. Thereupon, Taiwan was again incorporated into the territory of China and was put back under the jurisdiction of Chinese sovereignty. Since 1949, Taiwan and the mainland of China have been in a state of temporary division as a remaining problem due to civil war, but this has not changed the fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China.

The Taiwan question is the most important and sensitive issue in China-US relations. The core of the Taiwan question is “one China”. There is but one China in the world and Taiwan is part of China. The government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. This is the core concept of the one-China principle and has become a consensus of the international community and basic norm governing international relations. In October 1971, the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758, which “decides to restore all its rights to the People’s Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it.” A total of 181 countries, the US included, have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of recognizing the one-China principle. 

In 1971, the US affirmed to China the new principles it would follow with regard to the Taiwan question. They include: the US would acknowledge that there is only one China in the world and Taiwan is a part of China; the US would not repeat the phrase that the status of Taiwan is undetermined; the US had not supported, and would not support movements for “Taiwan independence”. President Nixon reaffirmed these principles to Premier Zhou Enlai during his visit to China in 1972. That was how the Shanghai Communiqué came into being.

The US side explicitly declared in the Shanghai Communiqué released in 1972 that “the United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States Government does not challenge that position.” The above-mentioned commitments made by the US started the process toward normalization of China-US relations. China decided to establish diplomatic relations with the US only when three preconditions had been met, namely, the US severed “diplomatic relations” and abrogated the “mutual defense treaty” with the Taiwan authorities and withdrew US military forces from Taiwan. In the Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the United States of America and the People’s Republic of China released in 1978, the US “recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China” and “acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China”. 

In the August 17 Communiqué released in 1982, the US explicitly stated, “In the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations on January 1, 1979, issued by the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Government of the United States of America, the United States of America recognized the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China, and it acknowledged the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.” It also “reiterates that it has no intention of infringing on Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity, or interfering in China’s internal affairs, or pursuing a policy of ‘two Chinas’ or ‘one China, one Taiwan’.” 

However, the US has not been faithfully implementing the one-China principle and stipulations in the three China-US joint communiqués over the past 40 years or so. There are more than enough examples in this regard. The US has significantly eased constraints on official exchanges with Taiwan, and the level and frequency of bilateral exchanges have greatly increased. This is a breach of its commitment to maintaining unofficial relations with Taiwan only. There have been more frequent open military interactions between the US and Taiwan, and the size and performance of arms sold by the US to Taiwan have kept increasing, with a total worth of over $70 billion. This is a breach of its commitment to gradually reducing its sale of arms to Taiwan, leading, over a period of time, to a final resolution. The US has helped Taiwan to expand its so-called “international space”, even jumping into the front stage to help Taiwan consolidate its so-called diplomatic ties. This is a breach of its commitment that it has no intention of pursuing a policy of “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan”. 

In recent years, the US has doubled down on efforts to hollow out the one-China principle. For example, the US is using more descriptions to modify its one-China policy, including its unilaterally-concocted Taiwan Relations Act and Six Assurances which have never been recognized and are firmly opposed by China from the very beginning. The China-US relationship, as that between two states, can only be guided by political consensus between the two countries, rather than be established on policy unilaterally formulated by the US side. The US has spread the fallacy in the international community that UNGA Resolution 2758 has not resolved the status of Taiwan, claiming that its one-China policy is different from China’s one-China principle and that each country has the right to define its own one-China policy framework. It is not hard to tell from the facts that China is not misrepresenting the US policy. It is the US who has been constantly reneging on its own commitments, bilateral consensus and its original position. Such moves are aimed at historical backpedaling, obstructing China’s peaceful reunification by using the Taiwan question, undermining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, to contain China with the Taiwan question.

It must be pointed out that be it the one-China principle or the one-China policy, their essence is both about “one China”. This is a political consensus reached between China and the US. Without this consensus, China and the US couldn’t have engaged with each other and established diplomatic ties and the bilateral relationship couldn’t have achieved development. We must also stress that the Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair and realizing China’s complete reunification is the shared aspiration of all the Chinese people. China is firmly resolved in defending its sovereignty and security interests. There is zero room for compromise and not an inch to give on the Taiwan question.

President Lincoln famously said, “A house divided cannot stand.” Would the American people accept secession of any state from the United States? We hope that the people from all walks of life in the consular districts can see the historic background and essence of the Taiwan question, respect the Chinese people’s aspiration for peace and national reunification, not to be deluded by some anti-China people who disregard historical facts and only seek their own political interests, and stand on the right side of history by supporting the peaceful reunification of China.