The final text in the [First] Commmunique turned out to be, "the U.S. declared: the United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States Government does not challenge that position." In other words, the Nixon Administration only took notice of what "the Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait" claimed.

The statement "the United States Government does not challenge that position," meant that the U.S. government did not deny that "all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait" assert the same thing, namely that there is only one China. It does not mean that the U.S. government agreed with the position taken by the Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Although such interpretation is not apparent in the statement itself, it was also confirmed in the second Joint Communique issued by U.S. President Carter . . . .

Further analysis from Fordham International Law Journal...

Comments: After the United States Commander in Chief broke dipomatic relations with the Republic of China on Taiwan effective January 1, 1979, the US Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act. The TRA has many provisions, and among the most important are the clauses which assert the following: (1) the terminology of "Republic of China" is not recognized after January 1, 1979, (2) the geographic boundaries of "Taiwan" only include the islands of Taiwan and the Pescadores, (3) "The preservation and enhancement of the human rights of all the people on Taiwan are hereby reaffirmed as objectives of the United States."

Comments: Holders of ROC passports may now go overseas for the purpose of tourism

Comments: After the People's Republic of China (PRC) took over the seat of Republic of China (ROC) in the United Nations in 1971, more and more countries changed their diplomatic relations from the ROC in Taiwan to the PRC in Beijing. ROC officials found that in order to participate in some international forums it would have to make various concessions regarding its membership name/title. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was the first major international organization to use the title of "Chinese Taipei" for Taiwan. In negotiating with the IOC, ROC officials stressed that (1) China is a divided nation, both parts of divided China are Chinese territories, (2) the people in one part of divided China are no less Chinese than those in the other. (3) the people of the ROC in Taiwan are Chinese and not "Taiwanese," so the word Taiwan is not appropriate. In fact, none of these assertions correspond with the historical or legal record. The true meaning of "Chinese Taipei" is more properly interpreted as "Chinese government in exile in Taipei."

Comments: At the latest, upon the coming into force of the Treaty of Peace between Japan and the Republic of China (August 5, 1952), the native inhabitants of Taiwan lost their Japanese nationality.

Court decision...

Comments: Enforcement of martial law had been gradually relaxed after the death of Chiang Kai-shek on April 5, 1975.

Comments: Notably, in the revisions of 2000 and later years, there have been no articles addressing the mass naturalization of Taiwanese persons as ROC citizens in 1946. Hence, the conditions of Article 10 of the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty in regard to "in accordance with the laws and regulations which have been or may hereafter be enforced by the Republic of China in Taiwan . . . " have yet to be fulfilled.

Comments: Reference is made to China/Taiwan: Evolution of the "One China" Policy, released July 9, 2007. In the Summary at the beginning of that report the following points were made --
(1) The United States did not explicitly state the sovereign status of Taiwan in the three US-PRC Joint Communiques of 1972, 1979, and 1982.
(2) The United States "acknowledged" the "One China" position of both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
(3) US policy has not recognized the PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan;
(4) US policy has not recognized Taiwan as a sovereign country; and
(5) US policy has considered Taiwan's status as undetermined.

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Taiwan, or the Republic of China, is not at this point a state in the international community. The position of the United States government is that the ROC -- Republic of China -- is an issue undecided, and it has been left undecided, as you know, for many, many years.

Webpage...

(March 18, 2008 District Court Decision) [The Native Taiwanese] Plaintiffs have essentially been persons without a state for almost 60 years. The last completely clear statement of authority over Taiwan came from General MacArthur in 1945. One can understand and sympathize with Plaintiffs' desire to regularize their position in the world.

(April 7, 2009 Court of Appeals Decision ) America and China's tumultuous relationship over the past sixty years has trapped the inhabitants of Taiwan in political purgatory. During this time the people on Taiwan have lived without any uniformly recognized government. In practical terms, this means they have uncertain status in the world community which infects the population's day-to-day lives. This pervasive ambiguity has driven Appellants to try to concretely define their national identity and personal rights.

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Developments in this new lawsuit are pending.