JAPAN TIMES -- HONOLULU -- No matter how the dispute over Taiwan's presidential election is resolved, it has become ever more clear that the "One China" principle is unraveling.
It is coming apart because most Taiwanese have rejected it, the Chinese are rigid in insisting on it, and the Bush administration vacillates on applying it. Many other nations are ambivalent and have ambiguous policies derived from it.
Perhaps most of all, the idea of "One China" is dying because few agree on what it means today. Beijing says "One China" means Taiwan belongs to China. The U.S. says the question of Taiwan's sovereignty is unsettled. Japan, which ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945, has renounced claim to the island but takes no position on its sovereignty.