Editing Political status of Taiwan (section)

==== 1952 – Treaty of Peace with Japan (San Francisco) ====

When Japan regained sovereignty over itself in 1952 with the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace with Japan (San Francisco Peace Treaty) with 48 nations, Japan renounced all claims and titles over Taiwan and the Pescadores. Some{{Who|date=April 2025}} claim that Japanese sovereignty only terminated at that point.<ref>{{cite book |title=Mandate for Change 1953–1956 |publisher=Doubleday & Co., New York |last=Eisenhower |first=Dwight D. |page=461 |url=http://www.taiwanbasic.com/nstatus/eisenhower.htm |oclc=2551357 |date=1963 |quote=The Japanese peace treaty of 1951 ended Japanese sovereignty over the islands but did not formally cede them to 'China,' either Communist or Nationalist. |access-date=2011-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308075947/http://www.taiwanbasic.com/nstatus/eisenhower.htm |archive-date=8 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Notably absent at the peace conference was the ROC which was expelled from [[mainland China]] in December 1949 as a result of the Chinese Civil War and had retreated to Taiwan. The PRC, which was proclaimed on 1 October 1949, was also not invited. The lack of invitation was probably due to the dispute over which government was the legitimate government of China (which both governments claimed to be); however, [[Cold War]] considerations might have played a part as well.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}} Some major governments represented in the San Francisco Conference, such as the UK and Soviet Union, had already established relations with the PRC, while others, such as the U.S. and Japan, still held relations with the ROC.{{cn|date=August 2024}}

The UK at that time stated for the record that the San Francisco Peace Treaty "itself does not determine the future of these islands," and therefore, the UK, along with Australia and New Zealand, was happy to sign the peace treaty.<ref name=taipeitimes20070930>{{Citation
|url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/09/30/2003381074
|title=John Tkacik on Taiwan: Taiwan's status remains 'unsettled'
|date=30 September 2007
|author=John Tkacik
|publisher=Taipei Times
|page=8
|access-date=22 May 2014
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110918112346/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/09/30/2003381074
|archive-date=18 September 2011
|url-status=live
}}</ref> One of the major reasons that the delegate from the Soviet Union gave for not signing the treaty was that: "The draft contains only a reference to the renunciation by Japan of its rights to these territories [Taiwan] but intentionally omits any mention of the further fate of these territories."<ref name=taipeitimes20070930 />

Article 25 of this treaty officially stipulated that only the Allied Powers defined in the treaty could benefit from this treaty. China was not listed as one of the Allied Powers; however, article 21 still provided limited benefits from Articles 10 and 14(a)2 for China. Japan's cession of Taiwan is unusual in that no recipient of Taiwan was stated as part of Dulles's plan of "neutralizing" Taiwan. The ROC protested its lack of invitation to the San Francisco Peace conference, to no avail.{{cn|date=August 2024}}