[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 13]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 18961]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             TAIWAN DESERVES A PLACE IN THE UNITED NATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BRAD SHERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 4, 2001

  Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, last year, the people of Taiwan went to the 
polls to select the individual who would serve as the Tenth President 
of the Republic of China. Mr. Chen Shui-bian, a member of an opposition 
party, won that hotly contested race, and for the first time in Chinese 
history, people in Taiwan had a peaceful transfer of power.
  Many scholars and government officials in the PRC suggested that if 
President Chen were elected, Southeast Asia would be thrown into 
economic and political turmoil. It did not occur. Instead, President 
Chen has avoided provoking the mainland. He has honored his pledge to 
seek a genuine dialogue with the Chinese mainland and his approach 
towards the PRC has won praise from neighbors in Asia and the United 
States.
  Mr. Speaker, In spite of all that President Chen and the people of 
Taiwan have done, Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, and its 
twenty-three million people are not represented in that body and in 
many other international organizations. It is time for fair-minded 
leaders of the world to correct this injustice.
  Unfortunately, the General Assembly again failed to provide Taiwan 
with the membership in this body it so richly deserves this year. I 
call on my colleagues and the Bush Administration to urge membership 
for Taiwan when the issue comes before the General Assembly next year.
  The members of the United Nations should include all people and 
nations, especially those who stand as a true example of political 
freedom. Many of my colleagues may be concerned about Taiwan's status 
as officially a province of China. I would remind my colleagues that 
other divided nations--Germany and Vietnam, for instance--enjoyed full 
representation in the UN by both of their governments. We should afford 
the free-market democracy of Taiwan the same.

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