Abstract

The 1952 Peace Treaty between Republic of China and Japan has recently received a lot of attention especially in Taiwan where some, including President Ma Ying-jeo, have argued that it handed sovereignty over Taiwan and Penghu to the Republic of China and that therefore the status of these two islands is settled. In this presentation, Professor van de Ven examines the negotiations in Taipei that led up to the Treaty, discussions that culminated in the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty between Japan and the Allies which laid the basis for the Taipei Treaty, as well as the Cairo Conference where the future shape of East Asia was first discussed by the Allies.He will argue that the Taipei Treaty, despite its many flaws, created a useful ambiguity that helped stabilize East Asia in the immediate post-war period but also helped create the fragmented modernities of Asia which still produce much diplomatic havoc.