[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 118 (Thursday, September 28, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S9479]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 140--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS 
REGARDING HIGH-LEVEL VISITS BY TAIWANESE OFFICIALS TO THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. LOTT (for himself, Mr. Helms, Mr. Murkowski, Mr. Kyl, Mrs. 
Hutchison, Mr. Smith of New Hampshire, Mr. Bennett, and Mr. 
Hutchinson); submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs:

                            S. Con. Res. 140

       Whereas Taiwan is the seventh largest trading partner of 
     the United States and plays an important role in the economy 
     of the Asia-Pacific region;
       Whereas Taiwan routinely holds free and fair elections in a 
     multiparty system, as evidenced most recently by Taiwan's 
     second democratic presidential election of March 18, 2000, in 
     which Mr. Chen Shui-bian was elected as president of the 
     23,000,000 people of Taiwan;
       Whereas Members of Congress, unlike executive branch 
     officials, have long had the freedom to meet with leaders of 
     governments with which the United States does not have formal 
     relations--meetings which provide a vital opportunity to 
     discuss issues of mutual concern that directly affect United 
     States national interests;
       Whereas several Members of Congress expressed interest in 
     meeting with President Chen Shui-bian during his 16-hour 
     layover in Los Angeles, California, en route to Latin America 
     and Africa on August 13, 2000;
       Whereas the meeting with President Chen did not take place 
     because of pressure from Washington and Beijing;
       Whereas Congress thereby lost the opportunity to 
     communicate directly with President Chen about developments 
     in the Asia-Pacific region and key elements of the 
     relationship between the United States and Taiwan when he 
     visited Los Angeles;
       Whereas there could not be a more important time to find 
     opportunities to talk to Taiwan's new leaders given the 
     enormous economic, security, and political interests we share 
     with both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China, as well 
     as the results of the recent election in Taiwan which 
     provided for the first party leadership change in Taiwan's 
     history;
       Whereas Congress must continue to play an independent 
     oversight role on United States policy toward Taiwan, and try 
     to find ways to reduce the threat of war between Taiwan and 
     the People's Republic of China, and in particular, to 
     counteract China's buildup of missiles pointed at Taiwan;
       Whereas the United States continues to cling to its policy 
     of more than 20 years, which prohibits high-ranking Taiwan 
     leaders from making official visits to the United States, 
     forcing Members of Congress to choose whether to rely solely 
     upon indirect assessments provided by the administration or 
     to travel to Taiwan to obtain this information firsthand, and 
     denying Taiwan's democratically elected officials the respect 
     they deserve;
       Whereas by bestowing upon President Chen the respect his 
     office deserves, the United States would have demonstrated to 
     the people of both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China 
     United States support for democracy; and
       Whereas the Immigration and Nationality Technical 
     Corrections Act of 1994 (Public Law 103-416) provides that 
     the President of Taiwan shall be welcome in the United States 
     at any time to discuss a host of important issues: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) it is in the interest of Congress and the executive 
     branch of the United States to communicate directly with 
     elected and appointed top officials of Taiwan, including its 
     democratically elected president; and
       (2) the United States should end restrictions on high-level 
     visits by officials of Taiwan to the United States.

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