Common sense dictates that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan need to be based on the premises that the ROC/Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense (MND) is legally established, and that the ROC regime's military conscription policies rest on a firm legal basis under international law. However, the six U.S. Executive Branch statements given above strongly appear to deny these premises. A casual overview of the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act passed by the U.S. Congress also shows that even the nomenclature of "Republic of China" is no longer recognized under U.S. law.
President Tsai Ing-wen's continual denial of the ROC's non-sovereign status, even after her election to a second term on January 11, 2020, is not helping to resolve the ROC/Taiwan's identity crisis. Indeed, in the view of most world nations, the "Republic of China" on Taiwan remains a non-internationally recognized entity. Despite the fact that ROC/Taiwan has received much international praise for its democratization, which began in the 1990s, it has made no headway in participating in international organizations under its assumed national title of "Republic of China."
Taking into account all of the above analysis, the reader may make a considered judgment as to which of the following choices constitutes a reasonable CONCLUSION for dealing with the defense needs of Taiwan --
(a) Regardless of the fact that Taiwan was not awarded to the "Republic of China" (ROC) in the post-WWII peace treaty, in the current day the legal responsibility for Taiwan's defense undoubtedly rests with the ROC, and under the "One China Policy" of the United States, the U.S. government should continue to fully support the ROC's military establishment,
- OR -
(b) The time has come for a complete re-evaluation of the military cooperation component of the Taiwan - USA relationship.
If selection (b) appears to be the most compelling choice, the reader is hereby invited to examine many previously hidden aspects of the Taiwan USA relationship, and conduct a thorough overview of other important details of the legal and historical background, by downloading the Taiwan Autonomy Foundation's ebook from -- https://www.twdefense.info/ebook.htm
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