2025 Statelessness & Citizenship Review 7(2) Statelessness (‘1961 Convention’).10 Reflections on liminal Taiwanese citizenship overseas, seen in the substance and rulings of these two cases, illuminates additional concerns of contested citizenship in today’s international community. This article proceeds as follows. First, it provides a brief overview of Taiwan’s contested sovereignty and citizenship. Second, it introduces the genuine-link test and discusses its relevance to Taiwanese citizenship. Third, it examines the two ECtHR cases to analyse how Taiwanese citizenship is addressed in the international context, elaborating on two key concepts: atypical citizenship deprivation and the spillover effects of contested citizenship. Finally, the paper reflects on contested citizenship at the international platform and offers concluding remarks. II CONTESTATION OF TAIWANESE STATEHOOD AND CITIZENSHIP The issue of Taiwanese citizenship is a complex and multifaceted challenge in international law, rooted in the contested status of Taiwan. This complexity arises from Taiwan’s ambiguous sovereignty, ongoing debates about its international personality, and long-term geopolitical challenges related to international recognition — challenges that have existed as long as Taiwan’s relationship with China. The following section briefly examines the context of this statehood to convey how the contestation of statehood results in the contestation of citizenship in the case of Taiwan. A Taiwan’s Statehood: Context and Debates A standard, though somewhat contested, view is that modern Taiwan’s sovereignty conundrum followed the aftermath of the Second World War (‘WWII’), when Japan ceded its rights over colonised lands without a clear resolution on who would gain Taiwan in turn.11 The Potsdam Declaration in 1945 involving China, the United Kingdom (‘UK’), the United States (‘US’) and Russia suggested Taiwan’s transfer to China, but this Declaration lacked binding power within international law.12 Consequently, Chinese forces took control of Taiwan when the Japanese left, with the island’s legal status remaining uncertain. The situation became even more complicated by the Chinese Civil War, in which the Chinese Party [Kuomintang] retreated to Taiwan, forming the Republic of China (‘ROC’), while the Chinese Communist Party established the People’s Republic of China (‘PRC’) on the mainland. The 1951 Treaty of Peace with Japan excluded both the ROC and the PRC, 13 leaving Taiwan’s sovereignty in limbo. The Japanese Government signed another treaty with the ROC in the Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan (‘1952 Treaty with Japan’),14 under 10 11 12 13 14 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, opened for signature 30 August 1961, 989 UNTS 175 (entered into force 13 December 1975) (‘1961 Convention’). See also Iseult Honohan, ‘Just what’s wrong with losing citizenship? Examining revocation of citizenship from a non-domination perspective’ (2020) 24(3) Citizenship Studies 355. See James R Crawford, The Creation of States in International Law (Oxford University Press 2006) 277. Proclamation Defining the Terms for the Japanese Surrender (‘Potsdam Declaration’), issued 26 July 1945, art 8. Treaty of Peace with Japan, opened for signature 8 September 1951, 136 UNTS 45 (entered into force 28 April 1952). Treaty of Peace between the Republic of China and Japan, opened for signature 28 April 1952, 138 UNTS 3 (entered into force 5 August 1952). 104