[ Maybe two Anchors ] [ Reporting live from the US Naval Base in Pearl Harbor Hawaii ] ANCHOR: Does the United States have jurisdiction over Taiwan? A new study by a team of university students at an east coast Ivy League University strongly suggests that it dos, and criticizes that the US Executive Branch is not fulfilling its obligtions to Taiwan under the Senate-ratified post war treaty. The students also forcefully point out that there are no international legal documents which prove that Taiwan was legally returned to China after WWII. Our correspondent in Nagasaki has more. NAGASAKI: The traditional view on Taiwan's legal status is that it was returned to China in the Fall of 1945. That return was supposedly based on the content of the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Proclamation, and the Japanese surrender documents. Those documents, drafted under the authority of President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet ____ Joseph Stalin, and others all expressed the intention to give Taiwan back to China, from which it had been separated by the treaty concluding the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. So, in this view, the completion of the Oct. 25, 1945 surrender ceremonies in Taipei resulted in a transfer of Taiwan's territorial sovereignty to China. ANCHOR: I have visited Taiwan twice in tour groups, and according to everything I saw, and all the information I collected, Taiwan is an integral part of the Republic of China. Certainly, walking down the street in a city in Taiwan, you have a very different feeling from being in some US city, It struck me that the city layout, or the "city planning" as you would say, is much different from an American city. You get very much of an Asian feeling. NAGASAKI: Well, I have been to Taiwan as well, and I can verify those sorts of impressions. But at the same time, let us not forget that impressions can be misleading. For example, if I blindfolded you and took you to Holland Village, when the blindfold was removed you would probably think you had been transported to some location near Amsterdam. But in reality, you are in Japan. ANCHOR: So, are these university students suggesting that the Taiwanese people have been kidnapped by the ROC regime to think that Taiwan is a part of the Republic of China, when in reality it isn't? NAGASAKI: That is a good summary of the students' point of view. As they have indicated in their report, there are no examples in the last 200 years or more to say that the "surrender" of local troops results in a transfer of territorial sovereignty to the country of the troops accepting the surrender. ANCHOR: Well, according to what I learned an a conference on "international humanitarian law" in Geneva, Switzerland, last Fall, I can confirms that that is true. But maybe there are other ways to transfer territorial sovereignty. After all, isn't the government structure in Taiwan based on a "Republic of China Constitution" ? ANCHOR 2: The students' report also questioned the legal basis for using the Republic of China Constitution in Taiwan. They said that neither the post war treaty, the Taiwan Relations Act, or any Executive Orders promulgated by the US president provide any legal basis for the use of an ROC Constitution in Taiwan. ANCHOR: Well, what would be their point of view. ANCHOR: They hold that at the most basic level, Taiwan is conquered territory of the United States which has never reached a final political status. It doesn't belong to China, and that fact was confirmed in a 1959 court case here in Washington D.C. In their view, it would be more accurate to regard Taiwan as an overseas territory of the United States under military government. ANCHOR: Our east-coast correspondent talked to Chinese officials in Washington D.C., and they informed him that the 1895 treaty was cancelled, so Taiwan was never ceded to Japan in the first place. He filed this report -- WASHINGTON: Chinese officials in the United States stress that the Republic of China regime in mainland China, led by Chiang Kai-shek, announced the cancellation of the 1895 Treaty in the late 1930s, early 1940s, and early 1950s. That was the treaty in which the Qing Dynasty ceded Taiwan to China. According to view of these officials, the cancellation of that treaty means that Taiwan was never ceded to Japan in the first place, and remained as Chinese territory continually, and in an unbroken fashion, from the late 1800s up to today. ANCHOR: According to a Chinese diplomat that I met in New York last spring, since the Republic of China regime has exercised continuous control over Taiwan from 1945 to the present, so the international law doctrine of "prescription" dictates that the Republic of China has full sovereignty. ANCHOR 2: Our east coast correspondent visited some universities recently and did some on-the-campus interviews to gauge student reaction to these viewpoints. = = Interview #1 = = [ annexation, new constitution, mass naturalization ..... prescription ] We will have more interviews when our "Good Morning Taiwan" news continues in a moment. PART 2 [ Interview #2 ] [ Interview #3 ] ANCHOR: Why is a student report at east coast Ivy League University attracting so much news attention? Just because the students are advancing a new explanation regarding Taiwan's undetermined legal status? ANCHOR 2: Well, as I understand it, the report was actually commissioned by a prominent Washington D.C. thinktank, and they asked the students to find some sort of "fresh perspective" to look at this entire question, and to try to find some sort of "framework" whereby it would be possible to talk about Taiwan in a more logical fashion. ANCHOR: And did the students find that? ANCHOR 2: Yes, they did. ANCHOR: So, did the think-tank hold a press conference to announce the research results? ANCHOR: No, apparently the Chairman felt these results too sensitive. The rumor floating around Washington D.C. now is that all copies of this report were seized by the National Security Agency. ANCHOR 2: So, what can we show our viewers at this point ANCHOR: We did manage to download some tables and charts from this report, along with some of the summaries. These involve the "framework" that I spoke of earlier. ANCHOR: Those can be downloaded from the National Security Agency's website? ANCHOR: No, we had to contact Wikileaks. [ CHART/TABLE ] SPANISH AMERICAN WAR SUPPORTING FACTORS MEXICAN AMERICAN WAR THEN USE THIS FRAMEWORK TO LOOK AT WWII IN THE PACIFIC ANCHOR: So, the result of this type of "framework" analysis is to say that Taiwan is an overseas territory of the USA under military government. ANCHOR: Yes, and according to the situations in other overseas territories during the period of military administration, the local Taiwanese people should be enjoying fundamental rights under the US constitution. ANCHOR: But technically speaking, you are not saying that Taiwan belongs to the USA, is that correct? ANCHOR: Yes, this is not ownership in the strict legal sense, but more of a "quasi trusteeship within the United States' insular law framework." ANCHOR: I understand that the students also outlined many ways in which the United States actually treats Taiwan as a quasi-trusteeship. ANCHOR; Yes, here are ten elements --