Lai Ching-te's speeches draw fire as critics decry his challenge to intl law

Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te's latest speeches have drawn widespread criticism, with many accusing him of attempting to challenge the authority of international law and deliberately distorting history to serve his own separatist agenda.

Lai has doubled down on promoting separatism in the first two installments of his so-called "10 lectures on unity" campaign by recycling long-debunked narratives to lend legitimacy to his "Taiwan independence" agenda, only to be denounced as challenging international law.

His claim that "Taiwan is a country" in his first lecture is legally indefensible, as he deliberately sidestepped authoritative international legal documents, like the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, according to a commentary of China Media Group (CMG).

The Cairo Declaration issued in 1942 and the Potsdam Proclamation in 1945 stipulated that all the territories Japan had stolen from China, such as Northeast China, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, should be restored to China. Japan also declared its unconditional surrender and acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation.

These documents, which carry international legal authority, have formed the post-WWII international order and also demonstrated that Taiwan's status as part of China is a broadly recognized consensus within the international community, according to the CMG commentary.

It also said Lai's claim that United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 "did not resolve" the issue of Taiwan's status is misleading.

At its 26th session in October 1971, the UN General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758, which undertook "to restore all its rights to the People's Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it."

The resolution settled once and for all the political, legal and procedural issues of China's representation in the UN, and it covered the whole country, including Taiwan; it also spelled out that China has one single seat in the UN, so there is no such thing as "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan," according to a white paper released in 2022.

Chen Guiqing, a scholar at the Taiwan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told CMG that the spirit of UN Resolution 2758 was consistent with that of a series of international legal documents such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, and its fundamental premise is the one-China principle.

Now, 183 countries have already established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle. Over the years, the Taiwan region has lost 10 so-called "diplomatic allies." Last month, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities were barred for the ninth consecutive year from participating in the World Health Assembly.

Lai's claim that "the international community does not recognize China's sovereignty over Taiwan" is pure self-deception, said the CMG commentary.

The so-called "diplomatic allies" bought by the DPP authorities with money, along with certain Western countries that support Taiwan for political purposes, represent only an extremely tiny minority of the international community, it added.

Backlash builds in Taiwan

Lai's speeches have also been widely criticized by different sectors across the Taiwan island.

He kicked off the so-called "10 lectures on unity" campaign on Sunday, two days after Taiwan's election commission announced a recall vote, scheduled for July 26, targeting more than 20 legislators of the Chinese Kuomintang.

Critics argue that the timing of Lai's lecture campaign was politically calculated to coincide with the key publicity window leading up to the voting.

Yu Tzu-hsiang, a professor at Shih Hsin University in Taiwan, said on a talk show that Lai's speech can be seen as a covert push for "Taiwan independence" and that Lai's approach to "unity" is simply about uniting those who support the independence agenda.

The themes of these 10 lectures are highly repetitive and fail to address many of the issues that matter most to the public, such as energy, housing and social security, thus exposing the policy void that has existed under Lai's leadership, said Taiwan People's Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang in a media interview.

An article in the Taipei-based China Times said that rather than aiming to listen to or unite the people, Lai opted to deliver a one-sided promotion of "Taiwan independence" in the speeches. The article noted that his real purpose is to transform the narrative of the upcoming recall vote from an interparty conflict to cross-Straits confrontation.

The United Daily News in an editorial described Lai's lectures on "unity" as "deeply ironic," arguing that Taiwan is more divided today than ever, largely because of Lai's policies.

(With input from Xinhua)