Taiwanese Independence Background Guide Table of Contents Letter from the Chair Committee Logistics Introduction to the Committee Introduction to Topic One History of the Problem Past Actions Taken Current Events Questions to Consider Resources to Use Introduction to Topic Two History of the Problem Past Actions Taken Current Events Questions to Consider Resources to Use Bibliography Staff of the Committee Chair Timothy Obiso Vice Chair Ellis Coldren Coordinating Crisis Director: Julia Mullert Under Secretary General Elena Bernstein Taylor Cowser, Secretary General Neha Iyer, Director General Letter from the Chair Hello Delegates! I am so honored to be your chair for BosMUN XIX! My name is Timothy Obiso and I am a junior majoring in Linguistics and minoring in International Relations and Chinese. My vice-chair, Ellis Coldren, and I have worked very hard to ensure that this committee is a great experience for all of you to improve your debate and general Model UN skills. I grew up in Saddle Brook, New Jersey which is “just thirty minutes outside of New York City” and very squarely in North Jersey. I started Model UN, both staffing and competing, my freshman year of college and chairing committees is definitely one of my favorite parts of MUN. If I’m not chairing, however, I’m preparing to travel to my next conference as a member of BU’s Travel Team and Cut Team. In my free time you can find me visiting one of the many museums in Boston, probably the MFA, reading, or learning languages. Since this committee is at the intersection of a few interests of mine. I’m very excited to bring this committee to you guys and see how the weekend progresses. As a reminder, the issues that we will discuss do impact people’s lives on a daily basis and proper respect and sensitivity is expected from all delegates. With that in mind, I cannot wait to see where you guys take things and am looking forward to lively, fruitful, and, most importantly, constructive debate from you all very soon. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me by emailing me at [email protected]. I look forward to seeing you all in February! All the best, Timothy Obiso Committee Logistics As a specialized committee, Taiwanese Independence doesn’t follow strict GA-style or Crisis-style procedure, but rather exists as a middle ground between both extremes. The goal of this committee is to pass any number of Resolutions that should be drafted throughout the course of the weekend in between rounds of debate and merging. This requires more thought to be put into each resolution as the weekend progress and is less fast paced than Directives in full Crisis committees. Since this is a GA-style committee, there is no backroom to respond to crisis notes and no need to build an arc as each delegate is representing the position of their government. Joint Personal Directives (JPDs) will be considered if two countries would like to show their support and cooperation to resolve a smaller issue under the scope of the chosen topic but these should be kept to a minimum and include conditions that only would apply to the signing countries if it has no place in a final resolution. Otherwise, this committee will function as a GA committee with the aforementioned exceptions and also the fact that representatives not present at the UN will be present in our committee, notably, Taiwan. Introduction to the Committee It is present day and you are attending a Pacific Island countries conference to discuss issues relevant to today’s world and pertinent to the delegates attending. The South China Sea is of interest to many countries attending with island construction and the speed of which rapidly increasing by multiple countries. Various claims to the waters from each country and the UN further complicate the issue of jurisdiction within this heavily contested area. With a regional hegemon claiming the largest area and having the means to enforce it, is global cooperation under the current law possible? Also located within the South China Sea, the issue of China/Taiwan relations has been an issue since the middle of the last century. While tensions do seem to be settled and less active than in previous decades, it certainly cannot be said that full harmony and unconditional peace exist within the region. Past solutions have been reached and far more have been suggested. Recognition of both nations is still a controversial issue globally and with various One China policies enacted, is a solution even possible? These issues may seem to exist separately, but if Taiwan were given recognition, sea law would apply and further limit China’s expansive claim in the region. The role of Taiwan and the role it is assigned by the international community are both important to ensure peace and stability in the region for the future. Further, any interpretation or change to existing sea and maritime would have ripple effects on countries all over the world, should this problem be solved with a unique regional law or will this interpretation have a globally positive impact? Introduction to Topic One The construction of artificial islands in the South China Sea is a recent undertaking by countries in the region. A number of countries have constructed islands in the South China Sea, most notably China and Vietnam. Island building is done by pumping rock and sand on pre-existing reefs that are relatively close to sea level. Once enough sand and rock has been added so that the island exists above sea level, that island is then claimed as the territory of the country who was responsible for building it. By building these islands, countries try to further validate claims over sovereignty in the sea as well as the many resources that the South China Sea holds. According to the UN Law of the Sea, countries have exclusive access to all territory 200 miles off of its coastline. Island building has been a clever way to expand those 200 miles into international waters by claiming the water within 200 miles off the coast of the constructed islands as their sovereign territory. Currently six bodies (China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam) claim at least some part of the South China Sea with China claiming the largest part, approximately 90% of it, as solely Chinese territory based on a historical claim about the region. China has drawn the Nine Dash Line as a way to illustrate their claims of the South China Sea. The Nine Dash Line, first announced in 1947, has been heavily criticized by the international community for being directly contradictory to international law being that it is nine non-connected lines on a map with no formal definition on any international body. Nations that have taken part in island building also face the problem of justifying their new claims to the international community. To prove that the newly constructed islands are truly the territory of the country claiming it, many countries build ports, docks, or other buildings and structures on them. Building these islands gives countries a clear advantage in claiming international waters. This is a clear motivation for any nation looking to expand claims and gain access to not only the plentiful natural resources of oil and natural gas found in the region, but also gain control over the most essential ship trade route in Asia. This island building has also been referred to as “building facts on the ground” so that claims cannot be denied by other parties since a country does have a presence on an island off their coast, extending their territory under the UN Law of the Sea. History of the Problem Historically, many nations have assumed control of pre-existing islands in the South China Sea such as France in the 1930s and Japan during World War 2. After the war, the Islands were not put under direct control by a single power and left them up to interpretation by the nations interested. The PRC first claimed these islands in 1951 during treaty negotiations with neighboring countries. In 1947, the Kuomintang (nationalist) government of China asserted the Eleven-Dash Line which was adopted by the Communist Party in 1949 and endorsed by Zhou Enlai as the Nine-Dash Line. The Geneva Accords of 1954, gave South Vietnam control of some islands within their jurisdiction based on established international law and seized them from China. During the Vietnam War in 1974, the PRC forcibly took over the Paracel Islands from South Vietnam to avoid them being seized by North Vietnam. Around the same time, the Philippines and Malaysia began to claim these islands as their own territory in domestic and international spheres. The PRC and Vietnam also had a small skirmish over the Johnson Reef area in 1988 over control of the islands where afterward China remained in control. Many skirmishes have taken place over the islands and control of the islands has no clear historical or modern answer. Starting in 2013, China began to construct on what came to be known as the “Great Wall of Sand,” an ambitious attempt at a greater territory claim in the South China Sea closer to the internationally controversial Nine Dash Line. At this time, China also began a slow takeover of the Spratly Islands. The Spratly Islands are a group of tiny islands in the middle of the South China Sea. Many of these islands lie within the 200 mile radius of other nations that have since claimed them as their territory.