[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 32 (Monday, March 11, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S1668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   CHINA'S AGGRESSION AGAINST TAIWAN

  Mr. FORD. Mr. President, it has been said that freedom always entails 
danger. So perhaps we here, in a country that has seen our share of 
battles on behalf of liberty and democracy, should not be surprised by 
China's latest action against Taiwan.
  It is no coincidence that China has planned to hold missile tests off 
of Taiwan's coast during that country's first democratic Presidential 
elections. But despite China's predictable behavior, it is no less a 
violation of all that we hold dear to us here in this freedom-loving 
country.
  China's latest act of coercion will accomplish nothing more than to 
further tarnish her image as a country whose human rights abuses seem 
to know no borders and no boundaries.
  This latest action comes at a time when Taiwan is about to embark on 
what democratic countries as our own often take for granted--the free 
and open elections of our leaders.
  By conducting missile tests off the shores of Taiwan--the third 
testing since Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hut visited the United States 
last June--China is not only effectively shutting down the two largest 
commercial ports in Taiwan, it is sending a message to the people of 
that country that their liberty is constantly in jeopardy.
  I want my colleagues to be aware that these tests not only will 
affect Taiwan's exports and imports in the short term, but are bound to 
have long-term effects as well. Some analysts put the loss at as much 
as 20 percent for both imports and exports.
  Those are losses that will be felt around the world, including my 
home State of Kentucky here exports to Taiwan ran close to $73 million 
in 1994.
  This does not even begin to touch on the repercussions for the 
financial markets from the predicted selling of the Taiwan dollar to 
driving share prices into a further slump. These financial backlashes 
will be long felt both in Taiwan and around the world.
  And yet, these fiscal concerns probably are not foremost on the minds 
of a nation who fears first for the safety of her people. One account I 
have read says that nobody trusts the accuracy of Beijing's weapons, 
and that even the slightest misfire could hit inhabited areas. Even if 
these weapons are unarmed, the impact would be enormous if smashed into 
Taiwan.
  Mr. President, let me close my asking my colleagues to remain ever 
alert to China's actions against this fledgling democracy. They have 
made their coercive intentions abundantly clear and we should not waver 
in our belief that nations must adhere to a certain international code 
of conduct.
  I would also call on the administration to continue to monitor the 
People's Republic of China and to take the necessary steps toward 
assuring that China understands, in no uncertain terms, that Taiwan 
must be afforded its due respect in accordance with that international 
code.
  As the leader of the free world, we can do no less than send a clear 
message of how this behavior is simply unacceptable.

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