Documents on ROC-Japan peace treaty to be displayed

ROC Central News Agency

2012/08/03 19:20:52

Taipei, Aug. 3 (CNA) Historical documents and other articles related to a peace agreement signed by the Republic of China (ROC) and Japan 60 years ago will go on display in Taipei next week, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

Other historical records related to the ROC's past will also be displayed at the exhibit at the Taipei Guest House from Aug. 6-19, said ministry spokesman Steve Hsia.

Inked on April 28, 1952, the Treaty of Peace between the ROC and Japan, also known as the Treaty of Taipei, is of major significance, Hsia said.

"The treaty is important for two main reasons. First, it brought the war between the two states to a formal end and it mandated the relationship between Taiwan and the ROC government," he said in a telephone interview.

The Treaty of Peace commits Japan to surrendering its claims to Taiwan without explicitly saying to which country sovereignty is transferred.

It does, however, identify "nationals of the Republic of China" as including "all the inhabitants and former inhabitants of Taiwan (Formosa) and Penghu (the Pescadores) ... who are of the Chinese nationality."

The separate accord was signed after the ROC was excluded from signing the San Francisco Peace Treaty because of a disagreement over whether the ROC or the People's Republic of China was the legitimate government of China.

The Treaty of Taipei affirmed many of the articles in the San Francisco Peace Treaty, and it was signed on the same day the San Francisco Treaty took effect.

(By Nancy Liu)
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