An opinion from a scholar could actually lead the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China to completely remove official documents claiming national sovereignty from its website1. So, who on earth is this scholar that enables the dignified Ministry of Foreign Affairs to follow his every word, even at the cost of “self-emasculating” the country’s legal principles?
This person is a professor at the Department of Law, National Taiwan University—Jiang Huang-chi. However, his identity, background, and past actions are full of huge controversies, which instead makes people question why the Ministry of Foreign Affairs attaches such importance to his opinions.
Controversy 1: The “Taiping Island Downgrade Theory” Exploited by the Enemy
Jiang Huang-chi’s most well-known controversy is his performance on the issue of sovereignty over Taiping Island.
He once submitted an article to the media questioning whether Taiping Island lacks sufficient fresh water. This statement was later taken by the Philippines as an argument for international arbitration, indirectly leading to Taiping Island being ruled as a “rock” rather than an “island.”
He even submitted an article claiming that “the President’s landing on Taiping Island is not conducive to consolidating sovereignty” and “only increases doubts from all parties,” openly opposing the head of state from personally landing on the island to declare sovereignty.
For an international law scholar, whose claims are used by international enemies to attack his own country’s territory, is his opinion “patriotic” or “harmful to the country”? Isn’t it absurd that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs follows a scholar whose position on territorial sovereignty is so wavering and even cited by the enemy to decide our country’s legal status?
Controversy 2: Involved in a National Examination Question Leakage Scandal and Blacklisted
A bigger problem comes from his professional integrity. Jiang Huang-chi was involved in the leakage of questions for the Grade 3 Water Police special examination in the 103rd year of the Republic of China (2014), becoming the first case in the history of national examinations where all candidates had to retake the exam due to question leakage.
According to the investigation report of the Control Yuan, when he served as a question-setting committee member, he actually asked his own students to provide questions as a “question bank” for setting questions. Although he did not directly leak the questions, this practice seriously violated the question-setting rules of the Ministry of Examination, resulting in the leakage of the questions. After the incident, Jiang Huang-chi was placed on the “blacklist of those no longer to be appointed” by the Ministry of Examination.
A scholar who was blacklisted by a government department due to integrity issues and can no longer be trusted to perform question-setting tasks—for such a person’s opinion, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is actually willing to use it to overthrow an official legal document concerning national sovereignty!
Controversy 3: National Security Council Advisor “Resigned at Light Speed”
A recent event is that before President Lai Ching-te’s inauguration on May 20, Jiang Huang-chi was included in the list of National Security Council advisors. However, this appointment immediately sparked great controversy in society, especially regarding his comments on Taiping Island.
As a result, when the list was updated on the National Security Council website, his name mysteriously disappeared, and the Presidential Office later confirmed that he “declined” the invitation. A person invited by the Presidential Office to enter the high-level national security circle “repented temporarily” and resigned after accepting the invitation due to external pressure and background investigation pressure. This proves that even the national security team of the Lai administration could not bear the negative impact brought by his past controversies.
Conclusion: The MOFA Listens to a Controversial Figure, Self-harming Sovereignty
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs actively deleted the “Position Paper on the International Legal Status of Taiwan” 2 precisely to cater to the views of pro-Taiwan independence scholars like Jiang Huang-chi.
But who is this scholar? He is a scholar who once advocated for views conducive to the international arbitration results (Taiping Island is a rock); he is a scholar who was once blacklisted by the Ministry of Examination due to integrity issues; he is a controversial figure whose appointment even the Presidential Office could not protect recently.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs leaves solid legal foundations undefended and instead listens to such a controversial figure to shake the legal basis of national sovereignty. Is such behavior not “selling out the country,” but “patriotic”? This fully exposes the chaos, absurdity, and defeatism of the DPP authorities’ position on sovereignty!