Hi everyone, this is Klaus.
I recently made two episodes about Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Now Little Pinks scold me for advocating Taiwan's independence, and advocates of Taiwan's independence say I'm a CCP propagandist.
As these two netizens said,
I support neither reunification nor independence, so I am "not objective".
Their statement is easily understood. So we won't dwell on it.
When we criticize others for being not objective,
we say, "You have a stance, and therefore you're not objective."
It appears that being objective is being neutral, which means not taking sides,
and that objectivity is about not viewing the world through colored lenses.
"You've chosen a side, so how can you be objective?" They say.
Therefore, these two netizens' inability to figure out my opinion is actually high praise for the objectivity of my channel.
I hereby express my gratitude to them.
Today, let's talk about how to be truly objective,
to not go to extremes because of our opinions.
I hope you enjoy this video.
Let's do a quick recap. The emergence of the San Francisco Peace Treaty
was to protect the Republic of China, not to deprive the Republic of China of its sovereignty over Taiwan.
But it also led to Taiwan’s sovereignty disputes,
giving the Taiwanese a legal basis for pursuing independence.
This is the most objective evaluation of the San Francisco Peace Treaty on the Taiwan issue.
As this netizen said, the United States never wanted Taiwan’s independence
in order to protect the Republic of China's name.
After all, this is the best weapon against the illegitimate CCP,
especially when the permanent members of the UN could create disputes and even bring down the CCP.
It is in the United States' best interest, but pro-independence extremists in Taiwan will not finish watching the whole video.
They get mad as soon as they hear the phrase "the Republic of China".
They and Little Pinks are the two extremes of the political spectrum.
No wonder they all use various labels to attack me.
Since I said they were extreme, someone refuted me like this,
"There is no such thing as pro-independence extremists in Taiwan. You think that way because you know very little about history."
I admit that my knowledge of history cannot be comprehensive.
You can find a hundred or a thousand pieces of evidence to refute me.
You question the sovereignty of the Republic of China over Taiwan.
In the end, it all comes down to the lack of a formal treaty that gives the Republic of China basis for taking over Taiwan.
For you guys, I have a few questions.
Is the People's Republic of China a sovereign country?
Don’t you always like to use the word "treaty"?
Can the CCP provide a treaty showing that the Republic of China has agreed to transfer its sovereignty over the mainland to the communist regime?
They can't. But why has the People’s Republic of China been a sovereign country for 71 years?
Much as we hope that Communist China is not a sovereign country, it is.
There is a difference between what we want and reality. That's life.
It’s easy to let our preconceived notions cloud our judgement.
You guys are so convinced that the Republic of China has no sovereignty over Taiwan due to the lack of a treaty.
Then why do you think Communist China is a sovereign state?
Communist China is a sovereign country, which is generally recognized by the international community.
Whether you like it or not, whether the Republic of China wants to admit it,
it’s a fact that the Republic of China has lost its sovereignty over the mainland.
Facts are facts, requiring no recognition, declarations, or treaties from the Republic of China.
Similarly, the Republic of China has sovereignty over Taiwan. That is a fact,
no matter how much pro-independence Taiwanese extremists are unwilling to accept it.
If sovereignty must be proved by a document,
then how was the Qing Dynasty able to cede Taiwan to Japan?
Did the Qing Dynasty have a document to prove its ownership of Taiwan?
In this world, sovereignty came first, and then there was proof of sovereignty.
The so-called proof of sovereignty was oral at first,
and then it was declared in written form, and became international conventions,
upgraded, developed, and justified
so that people refusing to accept it can shut up.
But people refusing to accept it will never accept it anyway, so there are disputes in this world.
On the other hand, some people materialize sovereignty and regard it as a crown
to be taken off one's head and worn by another.
However, sovereignty is a concept, not an object.
Let’s look at the definition of sovereignty.
Sovereignty is the supreme authority within a country's territory.
Does the Republic of China have supreme power over Taiwan?
Does any entity hold power over the Republic of China in Taiwan? No.
Does the Republic of China hold exclusive power?
Does the Republic of China have the ability to prevent other forces from exercising the same political power in Taiwan?
Yes. So why do you say that the Republic of China has no sovereignty over Taiwan?
It's been there since 1945 when,
unlike the military take over of Vietnam and Laos,
Taiwan was taken as a province, and the nationality of the Taiwanese was changed to the Republic of China.
These were acts of exercising sovereignty. Did the Republic of China need to ask a higher authority for permission?
Did the Allies and the United Nations restrict these powers Republic of China had?
There was no criticism, condemnation, or protests, was there?
Thus, without a doubt, the Republic of China has always had sovereignty over Taiwan.
Since 1945, the Republic of China has always exercised its sovereignty.
Of course, it hasn’t always done the right thing.
That's why I've said that only through independence can Taiwan completely break free of the CCP’s civil war against the Kuomintang
and undermine the so-called "united front", which the CCP carries out in the name of One China.
Only then can the Taiwanese proudly say, "I'm Taiwanese."
Why do I say that? Because it’s true and correct,
not because I support Taiwan's independence.
But over the past 70 years, Taiwan has become inseparable from the Republic of China.
The Republic of China and Taiwan have become one.
It is a fact that Taiwan belongs to the Republic of China.
Some pro-independence people in Taiwan want to separate Taiwan from the Republic of China.
They are allergic to any element relating to the Republic of China,
and obsessed with misinterpreting historical events to suit their narrative,
so that the country could have a name change? Is it worth sacrificing your peace for?
Even if you could come up with a thousand pieces of historical evidence
to prove that Taiwan does not belong to the Republic of China,
I could find just as much evidence, or perhaps even more, to refute you.
But it would be a meaningless debate.
We have different opinions, so the argument would only go on and on,
leading to more division and even war.
Just because you know a lot about history doesn’t mean you can be objective.
To form the right view of history, you need to respect reality.
For example, Little Pinks like to say, "China can't lose one inch of land."
Then the Taiwanese will tease them by saying,
"China can't lose one inch, but it can lose a big chunk."
Everyone knows that since the late Qing Dynasty,
China has ceded to Russia several million square kilometers of land.
There might have been one hundred treaties signed.
Like I said earlier, those who don’t want to accept it will not accept it whatsoever.
Manchuria, ceded by China to Russia, had never belonged to Russia since ancient times.
Russia is a European country. Russia and China did not border before.
Not an inch of Siberia belonged to Russia.
On the contrary, many dynasties ruled the Far East in the history of China.
Manchuria was the birthplace and "back garden" of the Qing Dynasty.
Russia occupied Chinese territories by a series of treaties that are universally recognized as unequal treaties,
and were not recognized by any subsequent Chinese government until 1999.
When the Soviet Union was first established, it even publicly issued a declaration,
offering to return the Chinese land occupied by Russia to the Chinese people.
But the Chinese warlords were too busy fighting each other at that time to give a damn.
Since the Republic of China, every Chinese government had recognized
the Sino-Russian Treaty of Nebuchu as the basis for the Sino-Russian border
until 1999 when Jiang Zemin and Russia signed the Sino-Russian Boundary Protocol
and recognized a series of unequal treaties signed between the late Qing Dynasty and Russia.
I could go on and on, for days on end, about all the horrendous crap Jiang has done.
Many people call him Jiang Toad.
Jiang Toad is so evil that we can't criticize him enough,
so evil that his corpse deserves to be dug out of the grave and whipped after he dies.
So it would be perfectly fine not to recognize any treaty Jiang signed.
I've mentioned a lot of historical facts, haven't I?
Would it not be reasonable to make a territorial claim on the lands ceded to Russia?
I've only just touched on this issue here.
If I were to use my artistic flair to write an inflammatory article
showing these facts to the Chinese people, it would certainly stir up nationalist sentiments.
The whole country would scramble to sign up for the army, wanting to fight Russia.
So, the more historical facts you know, the more objective you are? Not necessarily.
If you interpret history through your colored lenses, you will only be more extreme.
China is still far behind Russia in terms of military strength.
Even if China could win (it won't) after spending tons of money
and sacrificing cannon fodders to take back the Far East,
it would not necessarily be a good thing, since the Far East no longer has a large Chinese population there.
China would still have to rely on draconian and costly measures in controlling the society.
From a historical perspective, the Far East belongs to China far more convincingly than it belongs to Russia.
But in reality, do the local people there even want to return to China?
As netizen Camille Chen said, "Tracing history can't do much for today.
You can't force any individual or any ethnic group to bow down to you."
So, never forget that when you interpret history, folks.
Keep this principle in mind and respect reality.
As for the Taiwan issue, the reality is that the Republic of China and Taiwan are already one.
Whether you are pro-reunification or pro-independence, endless arguing about sovereignty is meaingless.
As netizen Zheng Yujin said, "No matter whom Taiwan belongs to, it does not belong to the CCP."
Everyone should seek common ground and, united as one, guard peace.
In the future, Taiwan can either recover the mainland or be independent.
Alright, that's all for this video.
This is Klaus. See you next time.