Refuting Wang Shih-chien: The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty and Comfort Women Compensation Rights’ “Absurd Misunderstanding”
While watching various news channels last night, I unexpectedly heard DPP Taipei Councilor Wang Shih-chien state on Channel 52 China Times News’s political commentary show “News Deep Throat” that “Chiang Kai-shek renounced demands for Japanese reparations in the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty, so the government cannot advocate for Taiwanese comfort women seeking Japanese reparation responsibility”—this kind of nonsensical erroneous misunderstanding.
One: Japan Unilaterally Breached the Treaty
Japan on September 29, 1972, to establish relations with the People’s Republic of China, unilaterally severed diplomatic relations with the ROC, simultaneously unilaterally breaching the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty.
Japan’s unscrupulous and dishonest breach, why should Taiwanese still foolishly abide by a contract they themselves abandoned??
Two: The Actual Content of the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty
The “Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty” contains nothing, as Wang Shih-chien claims, renouncing “our government’s authority to seek Japanese acknowledgment of wrongdoing and reparation demands on behalf of Taiwanese comfort women.”
In the “Agendum” of the Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty signing process, Item (1) Section (B) mentions that the ROC government, to demonstrate magnanimity and friendliness to the Japanese people, voluntarily renounced benefits from Japan’s obligation under Article 14, Section 1 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty.
The “services compensation” mentioned here refers to Article 14 of the San Francisco Treaty stating: “For those whose national territories suffered… from Japan requiring compensation acceptance… should receive services from Japanese people in production restoration, salvaging sunken ships and related operations…”
Simply put, this article could have made Japanese people slaves.
However, President Chiang Kai-shek renounced this victorious nation’s authority, which is the true reason Chiang was honored as “repaying hatred with virtue,” becoming a peace tale passed to present day.
Yet in DPP councilor’s mouths, this benevolent governance became our “government’s inability to demand Japanese reparation responsibility for Taiwanese comfort women” absurd accusations, manipulating Taiwanese comfort women’s human rights. What an absurd misunderstanding!