Recently, two articles about Taiwan appeared several days apart in The Advertiser, one by Richard Halloran (Focus, July 15) and the other by Oliver Lee (Island Voices, July 20). They differed on Taiwan's sovereignty and consequences of a forced takeover by China.

Lee believes that China can rightfully take over Taiwan by force and thinks that the U.S. neither has the right nor the willingness to defend Taiwan in such an event. I strongly disagree on both counts. While Lee barely touched upon the seriousness of the issue, columnist Halloran holds opposite views and shows profound understanding of the dire consequences that the world would face, not to mention the horror immediately confronting the 23 million people of this island nation, which has not been a part of China since 1895.

Lee readily accepts that Taiwan is part of China from a historical perspective and the Shanghai Communiqué of 1972. If historical claims are the sole criterion, then Mexico could claim the same of California and Texas. As for the communiqué, one should ask "What is a communiqué worth?" Nil, except to China and those who want to take the advantage of its cheap manufacturing capacity and access to its mass market.

Regarding China's claim on Taiwan, countries have used words such as "acknowledge" (U.S.), "respects and fully understands" (Japan), "takes note," and "admits," but rarely "recognizes." In fact, any favorable statement toward Taiwan can be extracted from developing countries in exchange for economic aid. The state of international loyalty is such that any wording in a communiqué can be used to gain access to China's enormous market potential.

A communiqué exacts no international enforceability as a treaty, even if the word "recognizes" is used. As opposed to a treaty, a communiqué is not rectified by referendum, congress, parliament, or a legislative body independent of the administration.

Experts in Taiwanese and Far Eastern affairs, such as Harvey Feldman (key architect of the Taiwan Relations Act) and John Tkacik Jr. ("Rethinking of One China," 2004; "America's Stake in Taiwan," 2007) are people in the know. They have stated clearly and repeatedly that the U.S. has never recognized Taiwan as a part of China, in Shanghai communiqué. The U.S. acknowledged what China said, but has never recognized it.

The U.S. has Congress' blessing and the law (Taiwan Relations Act) on its side to defend Taiwan. The U.S. can ill afford to incur the reputation of abandoning a friend when push becomes shove. Taiwan has been its ally and an important trade and strategic partner since the end of World War II.

Since then, the U.S., Korea and Japan have recognized the strategic importance of a peaceful Taiwan Strait. An international and peaceful Taiwan Strait benefits not only the people of Taiwan, but the world at large. Taipei Flight Information Region handles more than 1,000 civil aircraft from various countries flying through and no fewer than 500 vessels navigating through the Taiwan Strait every day. China deploys a large number of missiles in the region, which seriously threatens not only Taiwan but also world commerce. It is akin to a time bomb waiting to explode at any time to threaten the peace of the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Consequently, how could the security of Taiwan and Taiwan Strait be considered a domestic issue and not an international one? Just imagine the consequences when the strait suddenly becomes a domestic part of China when Taiwan falls. Unthinkable. Disruption to the world economy would be enormous.

By now, it should be known throughout the world that Taiwan is an independent country in every sense of the word — with its own defined territory, democratic system of government, passport, currency, armed forces and all that pertains to an independent country.

Foreigners confuse the totalitarian government on the Chinese mainland (People's Republic of China) and the democratic government in Taiwan (Republic of China). After the peaceful transfer of power to a popularly elected president in 2000, Taiwan is now a complete democratic state.

The road to Taiwan's democracy has been long and arduous — military rule after World War II, 40 years of martial law and terror in the hands of the KMT. Finally, Taiwan transitioned to a full-fledged democracy in May 2000.

Today, the 900 Chinese missiles targeting Taiwan constitute an extreme threat to the safety of the life and property of the Taiwanese people. All the world's democratic and freedom-loving countries should have the moral courage to demand China dismantle these missiles that threaten Taiwan, the Taiwan Strait and international peace.

Yu-Chong Lin is a professor of physiology at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.