[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 70 (Wednesday, June 8, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   TRIBUTE TO PRESIDENT LEE TENQ-HUI

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I would like to join in 
congratulating President Lee Tenq-hui, President of the Republic of 
China on Taiwan, on the anniversary of his inauguration which took 
place May 20, 1990.
  The prosperity of President Lee's country--the United States sixth 
largest trading partner with the world's second-largest hard-currency 
reserves--is fairly widely known. Less appreciated is Taiwan's 
remarkable democratic transformation of recent years, in which Lee 
Teng-hui has played a vital part. In the words of the State 
Department's annual human rights report, ``* * * in 1993 Taiwan 
continued its rapid progress toward a pluralistic system truly 
representing the island's population. Open political debate and a 
freewheeling print media contributed to a vigorous democratic 
environment.''
  These developments, which stand out in contrast to repression and 
human rights abuses on the mainland, are worthy of America's 
approbation and support. As I said in a floor statement May 19, our 
giving the cold shoulder to a free miltiparty system on Taiwan is 
inconsistent with our concern not to offend the dictators of the 
People's Republic. President Lee deserves U.S. respect and official 
acknowledgement, not the backhanded treatment he received when his 
plane refueled in Hawaii on May 4.
  It was my privilege to meet President Lee recently in South Africa at 
the inaugural ceremonies for President Nelson Mandela. On that 
occasion, it was my pleasure to introduce President Lee to Vice 
President Al Gore.
  In extending my congratulations to President Lee, I would extend to 
him and the people of Taiwan my conviction that the day is coming when 
the United States Government will officially acknowledge them as the 
friends and allies they so clearly are.

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