INTRODUCTION TO TAIWAN'S LEGAL STATUS

  PROTECTED PERSONS  
  under the Geneva Conventions  




REFERENCE: Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War
August 12, 1949                    

Article 4:
Persons protected by the Convention are those who, at a given moment and in any manner whatsoever, find themselves, in case of a conflict or occupation, in the hands of a Party to the conflict or Occupying Power of which they are not nationals.



Protected Persons -- any individuals legally able to invoke the Laws of War for their protection, which in general includes two main groups:
  1. "enemy nationals" within the national territory of each of the parties to the conflict and

  2. "the whole population" of occupied territories (excluding nationals of the occupying power), but more specifically also includes stateless persons, refugees, POWs, criminal detainees, non-repatriated persons, neutral aliens, nationals of Allied Powers without diplomatic relations, etc.
Normally, a protected person must be a national of a signatory country in order to invoke the GC protections but extensions can be provided through relationships with co-belligerents (aka "allies").



Application to Taiwan

In terms of legal authority which can be cited to justify the U.S. Dept. of State's authorization for the TCG to issue ID cards (and, in the future, passports) to native Taiwanese people, the TCG believes that there are some very sound arguments based on military jurisdiction under the U.S. Constitution. (See the EBOOK, Chapter 11.)

Moreover, in Taiwan, USMG is the protecting power. Hence, the legal authority for the issuance of Taiwan ID cards and passports can also be based on Article 4 of the Geneva Convention (IV) Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Aug. 12, 1949), which defines "protected persons." This is explained above.