Taiwan: Renegade Province or Independent Country? What do you think?

I've lived in Taiwan for a long time. I'm just curious what kind of impression, if any, you've formed in your own country based on what you've heard from your favorite news organizations. What's your opinion of former president Chen's pro-independence efforts? What about the new president Ma? I'm most interested in what non-Chinese people think. If you're Chinese, I think I probably already know what your answer is. To coordinates - TW: Yeah, I've read, forgotten, reread and reforgotten a lot of Taiwan's history, but I wasn't asking for factual information about Taiwan so much as what impressions and opinions people in other places have formed based on what they've learned through media outlets. From your name, I'm guessing you are here in Taiwan or have lived here. Clearly your knowledge of Taiwan differs from that of the *average* American/Brit/Australian/etc. To coordinates - TW: Yeah, I've read, forgotten, reread and reforgotten a lot of Taiwan's history, but I wasn't asking for factual information about Taiwan so much as what impressions and opinions people in other places have formed based on what they've learned through media outlets. From your name, I'm guessing you are here in Taiwan or have lived here. I was just hoping for some insight into how a normal American/Brit/Australian/etc. (who hasn't been here) views Taiwan

Public Comments

1. Taiwan has been independent since 1949. De facto if not de jure
2. independent country,with an imperialistic neighbor
3. The reason that the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan is not able to get admitted to the vast majority of international organizations as an independent sovereign nation can be summed up nicely by saying "no territory." In other words, the ROC on Taiwan does not hold "legal title" to the areas of Formosa and the Pescadores. The claim that the ROC had sovereignty over the areas of Formosa and the Pescadores up to 1949 is clearly false. There had been no transfer of territorial sovereignty of these areas to the ROC at any time prior to this date. In fact, in 1949 the post-war peace treaty had not yet come into effect!! The acceptance of the surrender of Japanese forces was done according to the directions of US General MacArthur. In General Order No. 1 of Sept. 2, 1945, MacArthur directed a Chinese ally -- Chiang Kai-shek, of the Republic of China -- to go to Taiwan and accept the surrender of the Japanese troops stationed there. In legal terms, MacArthur's order created an agency arrangement for the military occupation of Taiwan: The United States being the principal occupying power, with Chiang Kai-shek's ROC troops fulfilling the role of a subordinate occupying power. Then in late 1949 a large number of high-ranking officials of the ROC fled to occupied Taiwan from the mainland, thus becoming a government in exile. In the post war San Francisco Peace Treaty of April 28, 1952, Japan renounced the sovereignty of Taiwan without specifying a receiving country. The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty of August 5, 1952, confirmed these arrangements. In other words, from 1945 to the present, there are no international treaties or other legal documents which can show that the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan has ever been transferred to the ROC. Without any such proof of transfer, the ROC on Taiwan merely remains as (1) a subordinate occupying power, and (2) a government in exile. There has been no change in this status to date. Hence, the ROC on Taiwan has "no territory." With "no territory" the ROC on Taiwan cannot be considered an independent sovereign nation. Nor is it a renegade province of the PRC. (The issue of what country is actually holding the territorial title to Taiwan is a separate matter. However, it is certainly not the PRC.Most likely it is the USA.)