[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                           CHINESE DEMOCRACY

                                 ______


                        HON. GERALD B.H. SOLOMON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. SOLOMON. Mr. Speaker, I commend to the attention of Members an 
article by Merrick Carey, president of the Alexis de Tocqueville 
Institution. Mr. Carey sets forth the interesting thesis that one of 
the ways the U.S. Government can promote the development of democracy 
in the People's Republic of China is by pursuing closer economic and 
political contacts between the U.S. and the PRC's principal ideological 
competitor, the Republic of China on Taiwan.
  Few things have shaken the PRC's world-view more profoundly in recent 
years than the economic development and political liberalization in 
Taiwan that have lifted the ROC to membership in the first tier of 
advanced industrial nations.
  Taiwan has already achieved a standard of living and social 
development that the PRC can only dream about. And the PRC had better 
start taking Taiwan's example seriously and learn the lessons to be 
drawn from it if a similar level of progress is ever to be realized on 
the Chinese mainland.
  I commend Mr. Carey's article, which follows:

                           Chinese Democracy

       Until the early 1980s there was only one functioning 
     democracy in East Asia: Japan. Today, democratic government 
     has spread to include Russia, South Korea, the Republic of 
     China (Taiwan), and the Philippines, and is beginning to take 
     hold in Thailand and Malaysia. Even ``Stalinist'' Vietnam is 
     experimenting with ``doi moi'' market reforms and limited 
     elections at the local level.
       This Asian revolution has coincided with the spread of 
     democracy, starting in 1974, into the Iberian Peninsula, 
     throughout Latin America, and most dramatically into Central 
     and Eastern Europe and South Africa. Even Islam is no longer 
     immune, as democracy takes root in Turkey and Pakistan.
       As democracy has spread, the world has become more stable 
     and prosperous. The global struggle between Russia and 
     America is now a strong friendship, while much of Central 
     Europe and Latin America now boast dynamic economies in areas 
     recently in tyrannical darkness.
       In Asia, as elsewhere, you can find tension and trouble 
     where you find tyranny, and where there is democracy there is 
     trade, high levels of growth and the free flow of people and 
     ideas. The principal sources of tension in East Asia are 
     between the North Korean and Chinese communist governments on 
     the one hand, and their citizens and neighbors on the other.
       The People's Republic of China (PRC) is now nearly 
     surrounded by democracies and is having a hard time adjusting 
     to the New World Order. Beijing is attempting to have its 
     cake and eat it too by unleashing the forces of the market 
     while continuing to tighten the screws politically. They are 
     finding it increasingly difficult to sit between two chairs.
       The smooth transition to a free market democracy on Taiwan 
     is especially troubling for the PRC. The KMT Nationalists 
     have ruled Taiwan since losing the civil war to the 
     Communists in 1949, and have systematically turned what was 
     an authoritarian state into a dynamic market liberal 
     democracy. Today Taiwan has the world's 25th highest per 
     capita income, 20th largest GDP, 15th biggest overseas trade 
     volume and the largest foreign exchange reserves in the 
     world. Even more impressive, since political liberalization 
     began in the mid-80s, a free wheeling competitive party 
     system, broad civil liberties and a lively press are now the 
     hallmarks of Taiwan's democracy.
       The success of Taiwan's market democracy might be compared 
     to General Pinochet's experiment in Chile, except the KMT is 
     still in power, and Chile did not have to contend with a 
     gigantic neighbor trying to thwart its every move.
       By any objective standard of weight and power, Taiwan 
     should have been swallowed years ago by Mainland China. Its 
     population is one-sixtieth, that's 1/60, the Mainland's, 
     while its military personnel are 450,000 vs. 2,500,000. It's 
     as if Delaware is competing with the U.S. on the global 
     stage, and Delaware is gaining.
       As the PRC undertakes its generational leadership 
     transition and tries to contend with growing democratic 
     pressures, the ROC has raised the ante; the first direct 
     election of a President in the history of China will take 
     place in early 1996. Many political observers in Taiwan 
     believe this election could trigger a broader crisis across 
     the Taiwan Straits, and it is already causing jitters in 
     Taipei's financial and real estate markets.
       Taiwan's democracy is the topic of choice on the Mainland 
     today, and books about its success are moving at a fast pace, 
     both above and below ground. The direct Presidential election 
     will add further luster to the ROC image on the Mainland.
       The ROC has undertaken a tricky diplomatic offensive to 
     expand its role in international organizations while trying 
     to balance a peaceful accommodation with Beijing. The 
     strategists in Taipei must deal with a growing independence 
     movement on Taiwan, represented primarily by the Democratic 
     Progress Party, the success of which could trigger a military 
     response from the Mainland. At the same time, Taiwan wants 
     its growing economic and military power and political 
     legitimacy to be recognized internationally in order to 
     protect the ROC's autonomy should the Mainland prove 
     incapable of transitioning to democracy and peaceful 
     unification.
       This is certainly a wise strategy, as Hong Kong is now 
     finding out; Beijing has announced its intention to scrap 
     Hong Kong's elected government bodies when the colony reverts 
     to China in 1997. While hotels are still booked solid in 
     1997, empty apartments and non-renewed leases are growing in 
     the British colony.
       Both President Bush and Clinton have taken important steps 
     to upgrade U.S. relations with the ROC, but more can be done. 
     The Clinton Administration unfortunately missed a good 
     opportunity to go further with Taiwan when it delinked Most 
     Favored Nation status and human rights for the PRC. 
     Nonetheless it seems reasonable to allow Taiwanese diplomats 
     to begin visting the State Department and call their mission 
     in Washington the ``Taipei Representative Office.'' Even 
     Japan and Canada have less stringent regulations than the 
     U.S. in their diplomatic dealings with Taiwan. The U.S. 
     should also assist the ROC in obtaining observer status at 
     the U.N., as a preclude to becoming a full member.
       A renewed look at the 3 cornered military relations between 
     the U.S., PRC and ROC is also probably in order. It was the 
     consensus of a recent group of high level Americans visiting 
     Taiwan that the U.S. Congress would not allow any 
     Administration to stand back and let the PRC attack Taiwan. 
     These policymakers expected a replay of a reluctant Harry 
     Truman sending the Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Straights in 
     the event Beijing attempts a forced reunification. A former 
     key Bush Administration official recommended renewed, 
     unofficial contacts between U.S. and ROC military 
     strategists.
       Americans are rightly pleased with the role our global 
     diplomatic, economic and military power has played in the 
     sustained spread of democracy. The 20th Century is not only 
     the American Century, it is closing out as the Democratic 
     Century as well. And it is no longer debatable that the 
     spread of democracy enhances U.S. national interests.
       The Carter human rights campaign and the Reagan Doctrine 
     both placed democracy on the fulcrum of U.S. foreign policy, 
     and President Clinton, Strobe Talbott and Anthony Lake have 
     all indicated democracy will continue to be a driving force 
     in their policies. Building our relations with the democratic 
     Republic of China, while at the same time using every 
     reasonable means to coax the PRC down a democratic path, 
     would appear to fit into this strategy.
       The Chinese people deserve nothing less.

                          ____________________