[quote=“raymondaliasapollyon”]
[quote=“TaiwanTeacher”]
Do you truly believe that the ROC firmly adhered to International Laws until such time as they could legally transfer sovereignty of Taiwan to the ROC, or does the evidence that they invaded in force and stole the territory while they were supposed to be protecting the people there now seem a bit overwhelming?[/quote]
The answer depends on whether you buy the self-determination account.[/quote]
I most certainly do NOT buy the “Self-determination account”.
Let’s have a look at this document authored by the US Ambassaor to China;
"This memorandum was sent by Mr. John Leighton Stuart, United States Ambassador to China, to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Chairman of the National Government of the Republic of China, informing him of the situation in Taiwan.
Memorandum on the Situation in Taiwan
April 18, 1947
Background
The Formosan Chinese greeted the surrender of Japanese authority to the Chinese with immense enthusiasm on October 25, 1945. After fifty years under Japanese control and intensive economic development they welcomed a return to China, which they had idealized as the “Mother Country”. The richness of the island and the relatively light population pressure had made rapid economic and social developments possible. Agriculture, food processing and light industry in the best years produced an overseas trade valued at U.S. $225,000,000. To improve Taiwan’s economic value the Japanese had raised the general standard of living. Public health standards were high and literacy widely spread among the masses. Formosans had come to place a high value on orderly procedures in the courts and on the orderly enforcement and observance of government regulations, for they found order both profitable and necessary in a complex and semi-industrialized economy.
With the removal of the Japanese the Formosans looked forward to a return to profitable trade and an expansion of their already established industries, with the markets of China ready to receive all that they could produce. The surpluses which had always gone to Japan would now, they thought, go to China. They expected to return to control of the properties taken from them by the Japanese through fifty years and expected a larger share in the management of their own enterprises. Under pressure of the Japanese overlords who were alien to Taiwan, they had developed an island-wide sense of social solidarity. They were free of all internal political strife. The Japanese had rigorously excluded all Communist influence and activity, and had indeed filled the people with fear, dislike and distrust of Communist doctrines. They revered the Generalissimo, be1ieved the Three people’s Principles meant new opportunities, and looked forward expectantly to participation In the Central Government. The year 1946 was one of increasing disappointment. Though the majority of petty officials, clerks and office boys of the new Administration were Formosans, they were virtually excluded from all important government offices and from important administrative posts. The legal necessity to place all confiscated Japanese properties and enterprises under Government control led to the creation of syndicates and combines in every field in which the Japanese had had an interest. Though the Government owns (and must heavily subsidize) these companies, the salaried and privileged administrators are in a position to squeeze freely. It is alleged that raw and finished materials and agricultural products find their way into the hands of unscrupulous officials for their use in private trading and smuggling Judging from Taiwan’s former capacity to produce and the fact that its enterprises continue, qualified Formosans estimate that published records show only one-tenth of actual receipts. As an example, it is alleged by persons formerly connected with the Department of Agriculture and Forestry that fishing boats were withdrawn from their normal bases in 1940 and were used for smuggling in the interest of the authorities concerned.
Formosans have been virtually excluded from the higher levels of economic administration. These persistent allegations of corruption lead them to place responsibility on members of the Government who appear and reappear in lucrative posts as Commissioners, members of Committees, and Directors in a manner which concentrates full control of the total economy in the hands of a clique close to the Governor.
There was a progressive decline in Formosan economic enterprise, especially where there was competition with ex-Japanese interest. Unemployment among Formosans has progressively increased, either through direct discharge (frequently to make room for unqualified newcomers) or by the suspension or abolition of various established enterprises which failed to be profitable under the new management. Whereas about 50,000 Formosans had been employed normally in industrial work, by January 1947 UNRRA officials estimated that less than 5,000 were so employed. Whereas the top government officials created a Taiwan Industrial and Mining Enterprises Syndicate with a capital of two billion Taiwan yen, in which the Commissioners and their associates play leading roles, the Department of Mining and Industry announced an appropriation of only eight million Taiwan yen for loans in aid of private (i. e. Formosan) Industrial enterprises after June 1946…
Three governmental acts
Against this background of increasing economic and social dislocation three governmental acts in January and February appear to have crystallized Formosan resentment toward economic policies and toward individuals in the Government.
(1) Throughout 1946 Formosans sought permission to elect city mayors and Hsien magistrates, in order to ensure themselves of some direct control over local police and over economic functions and public services. The announcement of China’s new Constitution was greeted with relief. Prominent Formosan leaders counseled that demands for local elections could wait until the Constitution would become effective at the end of 1947. In early January, however, the Governor General announced that although the Constitution would be effective on the mainland on December 25, 1947, it would be impossible for the Government to allow local elections of mayors and magistrates in Formosa until December 1949. This had an effect which stirred political discussion to a new pitch. Formosans state that until they can elect their own representatives at all levels of local government they will have no security of person; they cannot control the local police, ensure the enforcement of law nor enjoy security of property."
taiwandocuments.org/228_01.htm
This was the systematic rape and pillaging of the properties and rights of the Formosans.
Moreover, it all began right here…
[i]"The Taiwan Provincial Garrison Command (台灣省警備總司令部) was established on September 1, 1945 at Chongqing, with Chen Yi as its first commanding general. On the same day, the Governor Office of Taiwan Province (zh:台灣省行政長官公署; 1945-09-01—1947-05-16) was formed and headed by Chen Yi as well.
This command’s major responsibilities included the repatriation of all Japanese nationals in Taiwan, transfer of authority over Taiwan to the Republic of China government, and maintenance of law and order."[/i]
This is clearly well before the ROC ever set foot on the island, proving without a doubt that the KMT had no intention of ever allowing “self-determination” to prevail on Formosa (Taiwan).
You say the Formosans filed no protests against the ROC/KMT actions. I declare this to be untrue.
And excert from a little book by George Kerr…
Chapter 10
In January and February, 1946, Dr. Lin Mou-sheng (a Columbia University man) published a series of articles in which he developed the theme that “If in Formosa the Three People’s Principles [of Sun Yat-sen] cannot be carried out, then the future of the Republic of China will indeed be dark.” His blunt comments were timed to reach the attention of an official deputation which the Central Government proposed to send to Formosa for an inspection tour. In time-honored fashion it was announced that these representatives would receive petitions addressed to them by “the People.” The Formosans knew enough of Chinese history to know that this was traditional " window-dressing," something to look well in the historical record; they proposed more incisive action. Public discussion of current issues led quickly to political organization.
On February 2 a Formosan People’s Association came into being, reorganized soon after as the Taiwan Political Reconstruction Association. On March 11, 1946, the newspaper Min Pao (edited by Lin Mou-sheng) published names of its officers and members, a representative cross-section of substantial landholders and professional men. Contrary to later Nationalist charges, this was not a secret, subversive organization but rather a revival, in new form, of the Home Rule Association which had struggled so long to represent Formosan interests under the Japanese administration.
Concurrently there began to appear “Citizens’ Freedom Safe-guarding Committees” which were in effect vigilante units formed by men determined to defend local interests wherever they were threatened by mainland Chinese newcomers. The first Committee appeared at Taipei on March 5, 1946, only five months after the surrender. Others soon appeared throughout the island, letting it be known that they felt they could no longer look to the local police to maintain law and order."
The Government did all that it could to impede the growth of these popular bodies, and a running battle of words filled the press. In this the Min Pao took the lead in a series of editorials entitled “Safeguarding the People’s Freedom” which bitterly commented upon the need to take such measures of selfdefense so soon after “liberation.”
The Formosans were prepared to fight for freedom of expression, so long denied them under Japanese rule, and the mainland Chinese were equally determined to repress criticism. Before the war the Formosan journal Minpo had been suppressed, and five Japanese-language dailies were consolidated and published as the Taiwan Shimpo from 1942 until the Japanese surrender on October 25, 1945. Literate Formosans were starved for a means of expression, and among all the glittering promises rained down in American propaganda pamphlets and broadcast by American stations, none was more attractive than the assurance “freedom of the press” would be theirs."
homepage.usask.ca/~llr130/taiwan … chap10.htm
No track record of criminal behavior there, eh? 
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