Taiwan is the largest island of China, known as the “treasured island of the motherland”. It lies on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean and faces Fujian Province to the west across the Taiwan Strait. The people of Taiwan and the Chinese mainland share the same Chinese ancestry and cultural roots. Ninety-eight percent of people in Taiwan are Han in ethnicity, using the same language as their brothers and sisters on the mainland. And they speak southern Fujian dialect. People across the Taiwan-Strait learn from the same ancient Chinese classics and celebrate the same Chinese traditional festivals.

Taiwan has been China’s territory since ancient times. A large number of historical records document the development of Taiwan by the Chinese people in earlier periods. The earliest references, among others, are to be found in Seaboard Geographic Gazetteer compiled in the year 230 A.D. by scholar Shen Ying of the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period. In 1335 A.D., Penghu Xunjiansi, an agency of local administration and inspection, was set up under Tong’an county (now Xiamen) of Fujian, to deal with civil affairs in Penghu and Taiwan. The Qing court set up the Taiwan prefecture in 1684 under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province. In 1885, Taiwan’s status was upgraded to be the 20th province of China. Throughout the history, Taiwan was temporally colonized twice, but both were later taken back by China. In 1662, Zheng Chenggong, a national hero of China, expelled the Dutch colonists and recovered Taiwan. In 1945, the Chinese people won the great victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, ending Taiwan’s half-century of humiliation under Japanese slavery.

 After World War II, a host of documents with international legal effect legally recognized Taiwan as Chinese territory. The Cairo Declaration issued by China, the United States and the United Kingdom on December 1, 1943 stated that it was the purpose of the three allies that all the territories Japan had stolen from China, such as Northeast China, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, should be restored to China. The Potsdam Proclamation was signed by China, the United States and the United Kingdom on July 26, 1945, and subsequently recognized by the Soviet Union. It reiterated: “The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out.” In September of the same year, Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender, in which it promised that it would faithfully fulfill the obligations laid down in the Potsdam Proclamation. On October 25 the Chinese government announced that it was resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Taiwan, and the ceremony to accept Japan’s surrender in Taiwan Province of the China war theater of the Allied powers was held in Taibei (Taipei). Taiwan was thus returned to China.

However, shortly after the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, a civil war broke out in China and Kuomintang (KMT) retreated to Taiwan after being defeated. With the support of external forces, KMT set up a regime in Taiwan and the two sides of the Taiwan Straits have fallen into a state of protracted political confrontation. On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded, and the Central People’s Government became the only legitimate government of the whole of China. Although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are yet to realize complete reunification, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China have never been divided, nor can they be. Taiwan’s status as part of China’s territory has never changed and will never be allowed to change.  

Both China and the Philippines were subjected to Western colonization and invasion and have painful memories of their counties being destroyed. With arduous struggle, the people of the Philippines shook off colonization of Spain, the United States and Japan, gained national independence and liberation of the nation. For China, Taiwan now is like a long-lost child of a mother. No mother can bear to see her child wandering away for a long time, nor can any country tolerate the division of its territory.

People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a close kinship, and the roots as one nation cannot be severed. We believe that people of all countries, including Filipino friends, can understand and respect Taiwan’s history and reality, and respect the Chinese people’s long-cherished wish to advance the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and the national reunification of China.