[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 11331]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 123--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
     THE FUTURE OF TAIWAN SHOULD BE RESOLVED PEACEFULLY, THROUGH A 
DEMOCRATIC MECHANISM, WITH THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE OF TAIWAN 
      AND FREE FROM OUTSIDE THREATS, INTIMIDATION, OR INTERFERENCE

  Mr. TORRICELLI submitted the following concurrent resolution; which 
was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 123

       Whereas in the San Francisco Peace Treaty signed on 
     September 8, 1951 (3 U. S. T. 3169) (in this resolution 
     referred to as the ``treaty''), Japan renounced all right, 
     title, and claim to Taiwan;
       Whereas the signatories of the treaty left the status of 
     Taiwan undetermined;
       Whereas the universally accepted principle of self-
     determination is enshrined in Article 1 of the United Nations 
     Charter;
       Whereas the United States is a signatory of the United 
     Nations Charter;
       Whereas the United States recognizes and supports that the 
     right to self-determination exists as a fundamental right of 
     all peoples, as set forth in numerous United Nations 
     instruments;
       Whereas the people of Taiwan are committed to the 
     principles of freedom, justice, and democracy as evidenced by 
     the March 18, 2000, election of Mr. Chen Shui-bian as 
     Taiwan's President;
       Whereas the 1993 Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties 
     of States defines the qualifications of a nation-state as a 
     defined territory, a permanent population, and a government 
     capable of entering into relations with other states;
       Whereas on February 24, 2000, and March 8, 2000, President 
     Clinton stated: ``We will ... continue to make absolutely 
     clear that the issues between Beijing and Taiwan must be 
     resolved peacefully and with the assent of the people of 
     Taiwan'';
       Whereas both the 2000 Republican party platform and the 
     Democratic party platform emphasized and made clear the 
     belief that the future of Taiwan should be determined with 
     the consent of the people of Taiwan; and
       Whereas Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in 
     a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on March 16, 
     2001, that ``what has changed is that any eventual agreement 
     that is arrived at has to be acceptable to the majority of 
     the people on Taiwan'': Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) the future of Taiwan should be resolved peacefully, 
     through a democratic mechanism such as a plebiscite and with 
     the express consent of the people of Taiwan; and
       (2) the future of Taiwan must be decided by the people of 
     Taiwan without outside threats, intimidation, or 
     interference.

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