Source: Republic of China Taiwan
Foreign Minister Lin solemnly refutes Chinese Foreign Minister Wang’s false claims regarding World War II
Date：2025-08-16
Data Source：Department of Policy Planning
August 16, 2025
No. 288
Following the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on August 15, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi claimed that the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, and other similar international documents had “clearly defined Japan’s responsibility for the war and required that Japan return all the territories it had stolen from China, including Taiwan.” He also remarked that this was “an indisputable outcome of the victory in the World Anti-Fascist War and constitutes an important part of the post-war international order.” The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) categorically refutes this malicious distortion of historical facts that attempts to mislead the international community.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung states that after World War II, the San Francisco Peace Treaty—binding under international law—superseded the political statements made in the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation. He points out that the treaty did not cede Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and that the PRC has never governed Taiwan.
In contrast, he says, Taiwan began promoting political liberalization and democratization from the grassroots level on up in the mid-1980s and completed its first direct presidential election in 1996. He also notes that by that time, the central executive and legislative representatives of the Republic of China (ROC) government were all elected by the people of Taiwan. He stresses that the ROC government has been the sole legitimate government ever since, administering Taiwan effectively and representing Taiwan internationally. He adds that this established the cross-strait status quo in which the ROC (Taiwan) and the PRC exist as equals, with neither subordinate to the other. He mentions that the ROC (Taiwan) has experienced three changes of governing party—in 2000, 2008, and 2016—that have consolidated the democratic system and helped create a stronger sense of national identity, reflecting the Taiwanese people’s steadfast pursuit of and desire for freedom and democracy.
Minister Lin emphasizes that it is an objective fact that neither the ROC (Taiwan) nor the PRC is subordinate to the other and that the PRC has no right to represent Taiwan on the global stage. MOFA urges the Beijing authorities to act in a pragmatic and rational manner and recognize that cross-strait relations can only be improved on the basis of dignity and parity through dialogue with the democratically elected government representing the people of Taiwan.
Taiwan sincerely hopes that democratic partners will unite in solidarity to jointly support the democratic umbrella, address the challenges posed by authoritarianism, and safeguard shared values and the rules-based international order. (E)