The so-called San Francisco Peace Treaty was illegal and invalid, and the Chinese govt will never recognize it, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, noting that a Taiwan-related article written by a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) deliberately confused right and wrong and incited Taiwan secessionists to seek independence with US support.

Zhao Lijian, spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at Tuesday's media briefing that the content of the article clearly went against history and legal common sense, deliberately confused black and white with the motive of attracting attention and hollowing out the one-China principle, cooperating with anti-China forces to use Taiwan island to contain China and inciting Taiwan secessionists to seek independence with US support.

Zhao's remarks were made after Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the AEI, claimed in an article that "Taiwan was never part of China" and the "one-China policy is a lie." He claimed that the San Francisco Peace Treaty did not transfer sovereignty to any other state and Japan only renounced all rights, title and claim to "Formosa and the Pescadores."

The so-called San Francisco Peace Treaty was an illegal and invalid document made by a group of US-led Western countries after World War II to make a separate peace treaty with Japan by excluding China and the Soviet Union, Zhao said.

The treaty violated the provisions of the 1942 UN Declaration signed by 26 countries including China, the US, the UK and the Soviet Union, violated the UN Charter and basic principles of international law, and was illegal and invalid in any disposition of China's territory and sovereign rights including the ownership of Taiwan, Zhao said.

From the very beginning, the Chinese government solemnly stated that since China was not involved in the preparation, formulation and signing of the treaty, the Chinese government believed it illegal and invalid and would never recognize it, he said.

Although the two sides of the Taiwan Straits are not yet fully reunified, the fact that the Chinese mainland and Taiwan island belong to one and the same China has never changed, and China's sovereignty and territory have never been divided, Zhao said.

A number of international legal documents, including the 1943 Cairo Declaration and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation, acknowledged China's sovereignty over Taiwan, he noted.

The facts about the Taiwan question are clear. History cannot be tampered with and right and wrong cannot be distorted, Zhao said, noting it is futile for anyone to challenge the one-China principle recognized by the international community and China tolerates no interference from any outside forces in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.