[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 25, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1092]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ON THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF TAIWAN PRESIDENT CHEN SHUI-BIAN'S RE-
                                ELECTION

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 25, 2005

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Taiwan 
President Chen Shui-bian on the occasion of his first anniversary of 
his second presidential term. He was re-elected to president of the 
Republic of China last year.
  A number of my colleagues and the American public have taken notice 
of Taiwan's political and economic achievements during the last two 
decades. A recent Business Week online article says ``the global 
economy couldn't function without it (Taiwan). But can it really find 
peace with China?'' I agree with the article's assessment of Taiwan's 
importance to the information and technology industry in the world. The 
revenues of Taiwan's 25 key tech companies should reach $12 billion 
this year. The article goes on to say that if a shooting war starts 
across the Taiwan Strait, the damage to the world economy would be 
equivalent to a ``nuclear bomb going off' and the information and 
technology supply could be severely compromised.
  Hence peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are in everyone's best 
interest. Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian is a man of impressive 
leadership skills who has made it clear over and over again that he 
would like to resolve the difficulties between Taipei and Beijing at 
the negotiating table rather than the battlefield. Unfortunately his 
call for Beijing to resume cross strait dialogue with Taipei without 
preconditions on either side has so far been rejected by China.
  It is regrettable that the Chinese leadership has refused to even 
talk with President Chen, the duly elected president of Taiwan. If real 
progress is going to be made in reducing tensions between China and 
Taiwan, it should be based on a genuine dialogue between the elected 
Taiwanese government and the established Chinese leadership.
  In this respect I concur with Assistant Secretary of State Randal 
Shriver's statement that ``Dialogue is better than no dialogue at all, 
and we think talking is better than no talking . . . the leaders in 
Beijing will ultimately have to talk to the elected leaders of Taiwan.
  So, once again, Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to 
commemorate the first anniversary of the election of Taiwan President 
Chen Shui-bian to his second term and offer my hopes that real dialogue 
across the Taiwan Straits, without preconditions, will begin someday 
soon.

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