National Archives: Cairo Declaration a Communique

Iris Ho over at FAPA sent this around. Everyone always knew that Cairo was a mere communique of no legal import, but US government confirmation is always nice. Not that this will stop the KMT or the CCP.....

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For Immediate Release Contact Iris Ho @ 202.547.3686 June 14, 2007 NATIONAL ARCHIVES SHATTERS BEIJING's AND KMT's CLAIMS

In a letter to FAPA dated June 5, Michael Kurtz, the Assistant Archivist for Records Services at the United States National Archives confirmed that the 1943 Cairo Declaration is neither a treaty nor an executive agreement, but merely a "communique." This marks the first time the United States government officially goes on record elaborating on the lack of legal binding power of the Cairo Declaration, and thus voids the basis of both the Chinese Nationalist KMT party’s and Beijing’s mythic "One China Principle" claims. Mr. Kurtz writes: "The National Archives and Records Administration has not filed this declaration under treaties. […] As you state, the declaration was a "communique" and it does not have treaty series (TS) or executive agreement series (EAS) number." Over the past half century, the Cairo Declaration has been used by both the Communist government and the KMT as one of the key historic documents to bolster their "One China" claims. The KMT has long cited the Cairo Declaration as the legal basis for ROC's claim on Taiwan. Interestingly enough, the Chinese Communist government also cites the Cairo Declaration to augment its claim that Taiwan is part of China. Former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin, current Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Premiere Wen Jiabao have in various public occasions invoked the Cairo Declaration to establish that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. FAPA President CT Lee states: The 1943 Cairo Declaration is a document that wrapped up a meeting between Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Chiang Kai-shek. It merely is a moment in time - a declaration of intention about the world's affairs among the three leaders. Although important at the time, it does not have any legal binding power almost 65 years later enabling either the KMT or the PRC to derive territorial claims from. The letter from the Archives codifies this fact that is already familiar to international legal scholars and Taiwan’s DPP government. The 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty officially brought World War II to an end and supersedes all previous agreements. It is time that the Chinese Nationalist Party and the Communist Chinese government cease this political game of rhetoric.”

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June 5, 2007
Coen Blaauw
Formosan Association for Public Affairs
552 7th Street S.E.
Washington, DC 20003

Dear Mr. Blaauw:
The is in response to the letter from C.T. Lee, President of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs to Professor Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, dated May 9, 2007, concerning the "Cairo Declaration" of December 1, 1943. Your letter was received in my office on May 23, 2007. The National Archives and Records Administration has not filed this declaration under "Treaties."

The only international treaties in our custody are those sent to us from the Department of State with a TS (treaty series), EAS (executive agreement series), or TIAS (treaties and other international agreements series) number. These documents are all in record Group 11, General Records of the United States Government. As you state in your letter, the declaration was a "communique," and it does not have treaty series (TS) or executive agreements series (EAS) number. The "Cairo Declaration" is included in the State Department publication "Treaties and Other International Agreements of the United States of America, 1776-1949," edited by Charles I. Bevans (volume 3, p. 858). The source is given as 1943 For. Rel. (Conferences at Cairo and Tehran) 448. The State Department publication "Foreign Relations of the United States: Conferences at Cairo and Tehran, 1943," includes on page 448 the text of the communique relating to the meeting at Cairo of President Roosevelt, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek, and Prime Minister Churchill. The source copy is reported as "Cairo Declaration Records." It was also printed in the Department of State Bulletin, vol. ix, December 4, 1943, p. 393.

Please let me know if I can of further assistance.

Sincerely,

MICHAEL J. KURTZ
Assistant Archivist

[Taiwan] [US] [China]