The raison d'etre of a government is to provide and guarantee liberty, equality, and welfare to its people. The principle of "self-determination" has long been recognized by the civilized world as a fundamental idea of democracy. On December 16, 1966, the United Nations passed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and International Covenant on Economic, Social and cultural Rights. Article I of the resolutions proclaims that all people have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.
For centuries, Taiwan has been ruled by alien regimes. Modern Taiwanese history is a chronicle of the Taiwanese' struggles against oppression and fight for independent survival. Since 1945, Taiwan under the Kuomintang (KMT) regime has been subject to the threat of China's invasion. Even though recently the tensions across the Straits of Taiwan has loosened gradually, to Taiwanese, the unification policy stressed by both the KMT regime and the Chinese government still poses a grave danger of a forced and forcible merger with China.
On August 31, 1993, the People's Republic of China (PRC) issued a document titled, "The Taiwan Question and the Reunification of China." Circulating in seven languages, this diplomatic white paper manifested its intent and ambition of annexing Taiwan through its distortion of history, misconstruction of international law and treaties, and disregard for the will and welfare of the Taiwanese. Though less dogmatic and more pragmatic than before, the KMT's response remains ambiguous and problematic: the KMT still insists that the Communist regime cannot legitimately represent China, while emphasizing its own capability of resolving this "Chinese problem" eventually. Under such circumstances, we think it necessary to explicate our point of view from the perspective of the Taiwanese.