Taiwan Church News

3888 Edition

Aug. 31 ~ Sept. 6, 2026

Weekly Topical

Cairo Declaration X San Francisco Treaty: A Historical Class on Legal Origin of Taiwan Sovereignty

Reported by Lin Yi-ying from Taipei

Facing China’s absurd installment of a Cairo Declaration monument in Egypt to claim the sovereignty of Taiwan, many Pro-Taiwan’s Citizen Groups and Taiwan Nation Alliance held press conferences on August 27 and 28 respectively to stress Cairo Declaration is only a press brief document with special political interests.

Both two press conferences indicated unanimously that Cairo Declaration has no signatures and therefore without any legal effects. Especially when Cairo Declaration was issued, the People’s Republic of China had not even established yet, how can PRC claim Taiwan’s sovereignty be justified after 75 years. These Taiwan Citizen Groups all agreed that San Francisco Treaty, which was signed in 1951, was absolutely compliant to the norms of international law. In this treaty, Japan officially gave up its sovereignty claims over Taiwan (and Pengfu) and formally lay down the legal basis to recognize Taiwan as an independent country under international law.

Insisting ridiculously to the world, “Taiwan is a part of China”, China installed a monument to mark the Cairo Declaration at Marriott Mena House in Cairo, Egypt, on August 16. Many Pro-Taiwan Citizen Groups held a press conference in the Legislative Yuan on August 27. Prof Weng Ming-jang, president of Taiwan Southern Society and Taiwan Society, explained that in 1943, U.S. President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Churchill and ROC President Chiang Kai-shek jointly issued a news-brief declaration in Cairo, Egypt, but did not sign anything on it. “The Cairo Declaration is only a press brief paper without any legal effects,” said Prof Weng, “ in the meantime, the People’s Republic of China had not been established yet, and in addition the Communist Party of PRC had never ruled or stepped into Taiwan for one second.”

September 8, 2026, is the 75th anniversary of the Treaty of San Francisco. The Taiwan Nation Alliance also held a press conference in the Legislative Yuan on August 28, calling on Taiwan society to learn the importance of the San Francisco Treaty doe Taiwan’s post-war international status, because in the treaty, Japan officially gave up its sovereignty claims over Taiwan and Penghu islands, including legal rights, privileges and demands. The public is urged to realize that Taiwan sovereignty is in the hands of Taiwanese people by properly understanding San Francisco Treaty.

Mr Yao Chia-wen, a senior advisor to president Lai Chin-te, said that though both Chiang Kai-shek(KMT) regime and Xi Jinping(CCP) regime took serious the historical Cairo Declaration, but the treaties or peace treaties signed after WWII should be deemed as the superior and authentic norms of international agreements and orders. Therefore, Mr Yao indicated, the Treaty of San Francisco was the very beginning for Taiwanese people’s future via self-determination.

Rev Ng Tiet-gan, secretary of PCT Church and Society Committee, pointed out that the Chiang Kai-shek regime fled to Taiwan in 1949 like renting a house and illegally occupied Taiwan without signing a contract. “Taiwanese people should discuss how to self-determinate its future of Taiwan’s sovereignty from the perspective of international law,” he said.

Rev Huang Chun-sheng, pastor of Chi-Nan Church of Chi-Hsin Presbytery, said that the PCT had issued “A Declaration of Human Rights” in 1977: calling Taiwan government that the future of Taiwan should be decided by the people themselves to “become a new and independent country.” Reminding the public that many Taiwanese rallied to take a make-up class to learn more about the history of Lin Family Murders at the beginning of 2026, Rev Huang called on more Taiwanese to rally again to learn more about San Francisco Treaty. “It is the solid legal base of Taiwan sovereignty under international law,” Rev Huang remarked.

On September 5, a seminar named “The 75th Anniversary of the Treaty of San Francisco – Symposium on the Defense of Taiwan’s Sovereignty under International Law” was held at National Taiwan University alumni resort to share and proclaim the good news for Taiwan.

Translated by Peter Wolfe