How should we begin to Understand the "Taiwan Question"?

In an April 7, 2009, Court of Appeals decision in Washington, D.C., the judges stated that: "America and China's tumultuous relationship over the past sixty years has trapped the inhabitants of Taiwan in political purgatory." However, few scholars who deal with Asian issues have researched the implications of this court decision in any detail.

Is it true that Taiwan's international legal status is unresolved? Or is Taiwan already independent? Or is it a part of another country? Or something else? What are the ramifications of Taiwan's legal status for the native Taiwanese people? Are there any important aspects of Taiwanese human rights that are currently being overlooked by the local governing authorities? Or by the world community? How should such problems be remedied? Is Taiwan a true democracy with freedom of speech and assembly? Or is it essentially an authoritarian regime and one-party state?

Is the current Constitution valid for Taiwan? Or should election, recall, and impeachment procedures be revised based on some new legal structure? Are local people correctly classified as having Chinese nationality? Is the ROC flag the correct national symbol? Is unification with the PRC inevitable? Or is Taiwan already a part of the PRC? Or is the unification issue merely a type of “phony topic” designed to confuse the local populace? This website will offer pro and con debate on important questions regarding Taiwan's history, legal environment, and international activities as they relate to human rights issues.

1. Was the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan transferred to China on Oct. 25. 1945?

2. Was the territorial sovereignty of Taiwan transfered to China at any time in the 1940s or 1950s?

3. Does Taiwan meet the legal criteria to be considered independent and sovereign?

4. Should Taiwan be admitted to the United Nations?

5. Is the Taiwan question an issue left over from the Chinese Civil War of the late 1940's?

6. Is the ROC flag the correct flag for Taiwan?