[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 77 (Thursday, May 30, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E968-E969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE ``ONE CHINA'' POLICY

                                 ______


                           HON. SHERROD BROWN

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 30, 1996

  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, when the status of United States 
relations with China and/or Taiwan is debated, references are often 
made to the ``One China'' policy. This policy dates back to the 
Shanghai Communique, which since 1972 has formed the legal framework of 
Sino-American relations. It

[[Page E969]]

reads: ``The U.S. acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the 
Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part 
of China.''
  I have always been puzzled by the ``One China'' policy. It is a 
complete abstraction; it simply does not comport with reality. It might 
serve the interests of the hegemonists in China, but it is an 
unrealistic as it is outdated.
  When Mao Tse-tung's Communists seized power in China in 1949 and 
established the People's Republic of China [PRC], ``Generalissimo'' 
Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists fled to Taiwan and established the 
Republic of China [ROC] on Taiwan. According to Mao, the PRC consisted 
of China, Taiwan, Tibet, and Mongolia. According to Chiang, the ROC 
consisted of exactly the same territory, i.e., China, Taiwan, Tibet, 
and Mongolia. Until 1972, the United States and most countries around 
the world chose to recognize the ROC regime as the sole, legitimate 
government of the whole territory.
  When President Nixon and Henry Kissinger went to China in 1972 and 
shifted recognition from Taipei to Beijing, they substituted one 
abstraction of reality for another. The rise of the Soviet Union to 
superpower status had necessitated a Sino-American relationship; the 
United States perceived the need for a powerful ally in the area, able 
to counter the Soviet threat. Indeed, on February 28, Nixon and Mao 
concluded the aforementioned Shanghai Communique. It completely 
neglected the rights and wishes of the people of Taiwan.
  Today, with the recent tension in the Taiwan Strait it is becoming 
more and more clear that the ``One China'' policy is an outdated and 
untenable relic of the cold war. It therefore needs to be abolished.
  Constructive ambiguity, strategic ambiguity, and even tactical 
ambiguity are terms that arise when our relationship with Taiwan is 
being discussed. To prevent the recurrence of the recent crisis in the 
Taiwan Strait, we cannot afford to be ambiguous in our China policy; it 
is time to acknowledge reality. There is one China and one Taiwan; the 
United States and the rest of the world should adjust their policy to 
current reality.
  The people of Taiwan have fought long and hard to establish a 
democracy on their island. The world should respect their choice. And 
if their wish is recognition by the rest of the world of their status 
as separate from China, then the United States, as the leader of the 
free world, should take the lead in that process.
  Mr. Chairman, we can make a beginning by acknowledging that Taiwan is 
not a part of China and scrap once and for all the outdated and 
unrealistic ``One China'' policy.

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