[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1829-S1830]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    CONGRATULATING THE PEOPLE OF TAIWAN AND REAFFIRMING U.S. POLICY

  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Con. Res. 99, submitted 
earlier today by me.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the concurrent 
resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 99) congratulating 
     the people of Taiwan for the successful conclusion of 
     Presidential elections on March 18, 2000, and reaffirming 
     United States policy toward Taiwan and the People's Republic 
     of China.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
concurrent resolution.
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, on March 18 the people of Taiwan went to 
the polls and chose their next president through a free and fair 
multiparty election. The winner of a close three-way race, Chen Shui-
bian of the Democratic Progressive Party, will be inaugurated in May.
  I had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. Chen in Washington in 1997 
when he was the mayor of Taipei. I was impressed by his political 
smarts and his commitment to building a more democratic and prosperous 
Taiwan.
  I also found him to be genuinely committed to improving relations 
with the mainland.
  I believe that Taiwan's election provides a fresh opportunity for the 
people of Taiwan and the people of China to reach out and resolve their 
differences peacefully through dialog on the basis of mutual respect.
  I hope that leaders on both sides of the Strait will seize this 
opportunity and begin to lay the foundation of trust, goodwill, and 
understanding which must precede true reconciliation.
  The inauguration of Chen will end the virtual monopoly of power the 
Nationalist Party has exercised for most of the past 50 years. This 
peaceful transition of power at the top of Taiwan's political system 
will mark the maturation of their democracy, and it is an event worthy 
of our profound respect and hearty congratulations.
  It was only 13 years ago that Taiwan lifted martial law and ushered 
in a new period of open political discourse and expanded civil liberty. 
Prior to that, Taiwan's leaders did not tolerate dissent and moved 
swiftly and sometimes ruthlessly to silence their critics.
  Taiwan's president-elect knows this well, because he got his start in 
politics as a young crusading lawyer working to promote transparency, 
freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly.
  Taiwan's emergence as a genuine multiparty democracy is a significant 
development in the long history of China. It is all the more remarkable 
given the fact that China's leaders in Beijing have done their level 
best to intimidate Taiwan's voters and prevent them from exercising 
this fundamental right.
  I cannot help but wonder how average Chinese on the mainland must 
view Taiwan's remarkable transformation. On the one hand, the people of 
China have a deep devotion to national unity and apparently are 
prepared to use force against Taiwan if it were to declare its 
independence.

[[Page S1830]]

  As Zhang Yunling of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing 
explained to New York Times correspondent Elisabeth Rosenthal on March 
20, ``China was divided when it was weak, and now that it is getting 
strong again, people's nationalist feeling rises and they feel strongly 
it is time to reunite the country.''
  On the other hand, the people of China are beginning to form their 
own impressions of Taiwan, no longer content only to listen to the 
government's official propaganda demonizing the island. Some even admit 
publicly to a certain grudging admiration for Taiwan's accomplishments 
and hope their own government will do nothing to precipitate a crisis.
  As one 22-year-old Beijing University physics major told Rosenthal, 
``I think both sides will have to make adjustments to their policies. 
After all Taiwan is democratic now, and the people have exercised their 
right to choose a president.''
  Let me read the words of that university student again, ``. . . the 
people have exercised their right to choose a president.''
  In America, we take democratic transitions of power for granted. But 
in China, and until recently on Taiwan, it was a revolutionary concept. 
And yet that is precisely what the people of Taiwan did on March 18. 
They changed their leadership through a peaceful, orderly, democratic 
process. They did so, by all accounts, because they were frustrated 
with corruption, cronyism, campaign finance abuses, and bureaucratic 
inefficiency.
  These are all faults that China's communist government has in spades. 
And with Internet use exploding in China, and with cross-straits 
commercial ties now in the tens of billions of dollars, there is no way 
that the people of China will not discover what is happening on Taiwan.
  And they may become inspired not only by the island's prosperity, but 
also by its peaceful democratic revolution. I predict they will begin 
to ask themselves, ``How come we don't enjoy the same standard of 
living and the same political rights here on the mainland?''
  Taiwan's people are responsible for the island's miraculous 
transformation from authoritarian rule and poverty to democracy and 
prosperity. They deserve all of the credit. But the people of the 
United States have reason to feel a little bit of pride as well.
  If Taiwan wins the Oscar for Best Actor, then we at least get a 
nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The United States commitment to 
Taiwan's security under the terms of the Taiwan Relations Act helped 
create the stable environment in which Taiwan has thrived.
  The other critical component of cross-Strait stability has been our 
adherence to a ``One-China'' policy, in which we maintain that disputes 
between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait must be settled peacefully, 
and that the future relationship between the People's Republic of China 
and Taiwan must be determined in accordance with the wishes of the 
people of China and the people of Taiwan.
  Maintaining a peaceful, stable environment in the Taiwan Strait has 
fostered economic growth throughout East Asia. It has also aided the 
emergence of democratic societies in the Philippines, Thailand, South 
Korea, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
  In the past decade, more people have come under democratic rule in 
East Asia than were liberated in Europe by the end of the cold war and 
the collapse of the Soviet Union. This remarkable accomplishment would 
not have been possible without United States leadership.
  Given all that Taiwan has accomplished in such a short span, I look 
forward to the future with renewed hope that someday all people of 
China will enjoy the rights and standard of living enjoyed by those 
fortunate few who live on Taiwan.
  Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent 
resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to 
reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements relating to the 
resolution be printed in the Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The concurrent resolution (S. Con. Res. 99) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The concurrent resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                            S. Con. Res. 99

       Whereas section 2(c) of the Taiwan Relations Act (Public 
     Law 96-8) states ``[t]he preservation and enhancement of the 
     human rights of all the people on Taiwan'' to be an objective 
     of the United States;
       Whereas Taiwan has become a multiparty democracy in which 
     all citizens have the right to participate freely in the 
     political process;
       Whereas the people of Taiwan have, by their vigorous 
     participation in electoral campaigns and public debate, 
     strengthened the foundations of a free and democratic way of 
     life;
       Whereas Taiwan successfully conducted a presidential 
     election on March 18, 2000;
       Whereas President Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan has actively 
     supported the consolidation of democratic institutions and 
     processes in Taiwan since 1988 when he became President;
       Whereas this election represents the first such transition 
     of national office from one elected leader to another in the 
     history of Chinese societies;
       Whereas the continued democratic development of Taiwan is a 
     matter of fundamental importance to the advancement of United 
     States interests in East Asia and is supported by the United 
     States Congress and the American people;
       Whereas a stable and peaceful security environment in East 
     Asia is essential to the furtherance of democratic 
     developments in Taiwan and other countries, as well as to the 
     protection of human rights throughout the region;
       Whereas since 1972 United States policy toward the People's 
     Republic of China has been predicated upon, as stated in 
     section 2(b)(3) of the Taiwan Relations Act, ``the 
     expectation that the future of Taiwan will be determined by 
     peaceful means'';
       Whereas section 2(b)(6) of the Taiwan Relations Act further 
     pledges ``to maintain the capacity of the United States to 
     resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that 
     would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic 
     system, of the people of Taiwan'';
       Whereas on June 9, 1998, the House of Representatives voted 
     unanimously to adopt House Concurrent Resolution 270 that 
     called upon the President of the United States to seek ``a 
     public renunciation by the People's Republic of China of any 
     use of force, or threat to use force, against democratic 
     Taiwan'';
       Whereas the People's Republic of China has consistently 
     refused to renounce the use of force against Taiwan;
       Whereas the State Council, an official organ at the highest 
     level of the Government of the People's Republic of China, 
     issued a ``white paper'' on February 21, 2000, which 
     threatened ``to adopt all drastic measures possible, 
     including the use of force'', if Taiwan indefinitely delays 
     entering into negotiations with the People's Republic of 
     China on the issue of reunification; and
       Whereas the February 21, 2000, statement by the State 
     Council significantly escalates tensions across the Taiwan 
     Straits and sets forth a new condition that has not 
     heretofore been stated regarding the conditions that would 
     prompt the People's Republic of China to use force against 
     Taiwan: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That--
       (1) the people of Taiwan are to be congratulated for the 
     successful conclusion of presidential elections on March 18, 
     2000, and for their continuing efforts in developing and 
     sustaining a free, democratic society which respects human 
     rights and embraces free markets;
       (2) President Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan is to be congratulated 
     for his significant contributions to freedom and democracy on 
     Taiwan;
       (3) President-elect Chen Shui-bian and Vice President-elect 
     Annette Hsiu-lien Lu of Taiwan are to be congratulated for 
     their victory, and they have the strong support and best 
     wishes of the Congress and the American people for a 
     successful administration;
       (4) it is the sense of Congress that the People's Republic 
     of China should refrain from making provocative threats 
     against Taiwan and should instead undertake steps that would 
     lead to a substantive dialogue, including a renunciation of 
     the use of force against Taiwan and progress toward 
     democracy, the rule of law, and protection of human and 
     religious rights in the People's Republic of China; and
       (5) the provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act (Public Law 
     96-8) are hereby affirmed as the statutory standard by which 
     United States policy toward Taiwan shall be determined.

                          ____________________