[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 85 (Monday, May 22, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S7133]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


               PRESIDENT LEE TENG-HUI TO VISIT ALMA MATER

 Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I rise today as the chairman of the 
Senate Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs to inform my 
colleagues that, as predicted in the press over the weekend, the 
administration will announce this afternoon that it has agreed to issue 
a visa to President Lee Teng-hui of the Republic of China on Taiwan for 
a private visit to his alma mater.
  I am very pleased that the administration has finally decided to take 
this step. The feeling in Congress on this issue has been very strong, 
as evidenced by the near unanimous votes in the last 2 weeks on the 
resolution calling on the State Department to allow the visit. I'm 
equally pleased that we have avoided an escalating squabble with the 
State Department over the visit. If this action had been taken earlier, 
when it should have been, we could have avoided a great deal of 
acrimony and conflicting signals. I believe that the decision to admit 
President Lee brings our policies on admission of, let us say, 
controversial public figures more into uniformity, and it removes a 
gross and unnecessary slight to one of our close friends in Asia.
  Mr. President, in closing I would like to make something clear to our 
friends in the People's Republic of China. Although I understand the 
depth of their feelings on this issue, I do not believe that this 
simple move has to adversely affect our important relationship. 
Admitting President Lee Teng-hui for a private, I repeat, private visit 
should not be seen for more than it is--an internal decision to admit a 
private citizen for a limited private purpose--and I am sure that 
President Lee will closely adhere to the parameters of the visit in 
order to avoid any unnecessary complications. There are no hidden 
signals here, no nebulous meanings, no new policy currents. This is 
not, nor should the People's Republic of China interpret it to be, our 
repudiation of their one-China policy.


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