[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.
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