Hi,
My understanding of this is the parties that have brought the suit forward have the financial means to pay for it and have lived sometime in Taiwan to have a personal interest in Taiwan.
My view is that the “point” of the suit is to seek clarity of the position of Taiwan, in its current form everyone want Taiwan to remain as a quasi-sovereign entity without saying one way or another as to exactly what that state is.
For America, it is far cheaper economically to keep Taiwan in a suspended state as this keeps China happy and their no cost of maintaining a military campaign to protect Taiwan.
On the other hand, Taiwan is not part of China and this maintains a buffer against China expanding into the Pacific.
America benefits from a status quo, Taiwan does not.
Now on the other hand, the question as whether or not the suit is valid is an interesting point.
Consider this, if from an internation legal view point China did have a claim over Taiwan, why is it…
- Taiwan issues their own passports?
- Chinese need visas to visit Taiwan?
- Chinese government must ask to enter Taiwan?
Because China has no legal claim over Taiwan. China gave up their rights over Taiwan in the 1800s to Japan, and Japan gave up those same rights to the Allies in the 1940s.
At present, America is the steward of Taiwan, who originally assigned the KMT as the property manager (note: when you hire a property manager to manage your property, the manager is not allowed the steal the fridge - and they cannot claim the TV is theirs).
And that arrangement was to continue until Taiwan become self governing, and until the people of Taiwan asked for the right of sovereign self rule - which the President of Taiwan must ask for from the President of America.
However, in order to do this, Taiwan would need to hold a referendum to ask the people if they would like to become a sovereignty. Now the chances of that happening while the KMT control the legislature is slim. But that is the process required.
Now the anti-succession law enacted by China, does not hold any legal weight in International law because it can only apply (if at all) to parts of China, which Taiwan is not.
Any invasion of Taiwan by China would be an act of war.
So coming back to the point of this thread, I think the purpose of the suit is to force America to admit to the truth. These are the outcomes as I see it;
a) America acknowledges Taiwan under its laws and grants citizenship (unlikely)
b) America asks the Taiwan Government to propose a referendum to determine whether Taiwan wants to be granted sovereignty, or become Americans (slightly more likely)
c) The American Government smothers the suit and pleads national security - i.e. if the suit were to proceed the truth would force America into a possible conflict with China over Taiwan because American would have to admit to the world that they possess Taiwan, China has been lying all along (more than likely).
Note: scenario (a) and (b) would mean Taiwan is not an independant state and things like the WHO, Olympics etc would no longer apply. Whereas (c) could imply the Taiwan Act is rendered redundant freeing American from “having” to defend Taiwan, to deciding to.
If China were to invade Taiwan in scenario (b) I wonder what the Australian Government would do(?) It would be hypocritical to get involved in East Timor, then stand aside for Taiwan.
Just some thoughts
Michael