A noted Chinese international law expert said the Cairo Declaration, which was issued by heads of China, the United States and Britain during World War II, established the legal basis for Taiwan as part of China.

Liu Wenzong, an international law expert with the prestigious Foreign Affairs College, said in a signed article that the declaration published in November of 1943 rang the passing bell for Japanese militarism, and reshaped the political map for a postwar Asia-Pacific region.

The declaration also brought hopes for China to regain Taiwan and the Penghu Islands and other Chinese territory Japan seized through unequal treaties it had imposed on China, Liu recalled.

Under the declaration reached by the three great allied nations, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands must been returned to the Republic of China (ROC), Liu said.

Two years later, ROC officials were dispatched to Taiwan to formerly accept the surrender of intruding Japanese troops on Oct.25, and declared that China regained its sovereignty over Taiwan and the Penghu Islands. Japan announced unconditional surrender on Aug. 15, 1945.

The evidence shows that the declaration laid down a permanent basis the principle that both sides of the Taiwan Straits belong to China, the expert wrote.

The Republic of China was overthrown in 1949 by Communist Party of China (CPC)-led revolutionary forces in a civil war, and New China, or the People's Republic of China (PRC), was founded on Oct.1 in the same year, but the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have yet to be reunited.

In 1971, the No. 2758 Resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly reaffirmed the historical fact and legal status that the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate representative of China, and Taiwan is part of China.

Nevertheless, certain people in Taiwan have gone too far to claim that the declaration is invalid as it was merely a news bulletin by several military people, according to the article.

Liu dismissed that remarks as nothing but a pact of lies with ulterior motives.

The expert quoted a collection of US foreign affairs documents on the meeting, which was authorized by the United States government then, as saying the Cairo conference that produced the declaration was sponsored by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and convened in November of 1943 after more than six months of serious preparation involving the heads of state of China, the United States and Britain, and high-ranking officials of the three nations.

The US president and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made changes to the draft Cairo Declaration in person, according to the documents.

The established international law expert described the declaration as an important historic international document published during World War II by a summit meeting of China, the U.S. and Britain.

In the article published Friday by the People's Daily, Rao Geping, director of the International Law Institute of eminent Beijing University, also said that the declaration provided effective legal evidence for Taiwan's status as a part of China.

It has become a principle of international law that international declarations, with detailed action guidelines and signed by heads of state, are binding upon all participating countries, according to Rao.

This proves that the Cairo Declaration is an international law document binding on the three great nations and therefore different from commonplace international policy statements, the expert acknowledged.

The legal virtues of the declaration, with detailed rights and obligations regulated, have been recognized by the Potsdam Proclamation, Japan's capitulation in 1945 and other related international documents.

(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2003)