The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty and the Chinese residents in Japan—Legal status problem under the 1952 regime

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Sino – Japanese Peace Treaty signed in April 1952 not only set the basic framework for diplomatic relations between China, Japan, and Taiwan until 1972, but was also significant in substantially determining the legal status of Chinese residents in Japan during the same period. Subsequently, this paper analyzes both the legislative process in Japan leading up to the Sino – Japanese Peace Treaty and the process of diplomatic negotiations between Japan and China and identifies the following points. In the process of legislating the Immigration Control Ordinance, the Japanese government, while recognizing that Chinese mainlanders in Japan were Chinese nationals, considered them to be outside the legal jurisdiction of the Republic of China (R.O.C.) government, and while recognizing the jurisdiction of the R.O.C. government over Formosans in Japan to a certain extent, interpreted “the ultimate nationality of Taiwanese people has not been determined” from the standpoint that the legal status of Taiwan was undetermined. The R.O.C. government was forced to accept the Japanese government’s treatment regarding the legal status of Chinese residents in Japan because it was unable to have its sovereignty over Taiwan and the Penghu Islands clearly stated in the articles of the Sino – Japanese Peace Treaty out of consideration for the United States, which acted as an intermediary in the negotiations of the treaty.

Keywords

• Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty
• Chinese residents in Japan
• 1952 regime
• legal status problem