[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 2]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 1727-1728]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             RECOGNIZING TAIWAN'S PEACE INITIATIVE ROADMAP

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. SCOTT DesJARLAIS

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 10, 2016

  Mr. DesJARLAIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the efforts 
that our close partner and ally Taiwan has made in support of peace and 
stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
   Last year, Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou proposed the South China 
Sea Peace Initiative, reiterating their government's longstanding 
position of shelving disputes and promoting joint resource development 
in these contested waters. On January 28, 2016, President Ma further 
proposed ``the South China Sea Peace Initiative Roadmap'' during his 
visit to Taiping Island in the Spratly of the South China Sea. The 
content of the Peace Initiative Roadmap is stated as below:
   ``1. ``Yes'' to cooperation, ``no'' to confrontation: A cooperation 
and development mechanism that contributes to peace and prosperity in 
the South China Sea should first be established, and sovereignty 
disputes should be set aside for future resolution through peaceful 
means.
   2. ``Yes'' to sharing, ``no'' to monopolizing: A cooperation and 
development mechanism should ensure equal participation and resource 
sharing among all parties concerned in the region in order to avoid 
undermining the rights and interests of any party.
   3. ``Yes'' to pragmatism, ``no'' to intransigence: The initial focus 
should be on aspects which are beneficial to all parties concerned and 
on which consensus can be easily achieved; various cooperation items 
should be pragmatically and gradually promoted so as to avoid missing 
out on cooperation opportunities as a result of any party insisting on 
its position.

[[Page 1728]]

   The viable path consists of shelving disputes, integrated planning, 
and zonal development. The two essential elaborations are: First, all 
parties concerned in the region should be included in the consultation 
mechanism for this initiative so that they can engage in cooperation 
and negotiations on integrated planning for the South China Sea. 
Second, the cooperation and consultation mechanism proposed in this 
initiative should be a provisional arrangement of a practical nature, 
and should not undermine the position of any party concerned or 
jeopardize or hamper the reaching of a final agreement on the South 
China Sea.''
   The Taiwan government has reaffirmed its commitment to uphold the 
freedom of navigation and overflight, and has actively worked to 
promote peace and prosperity throughout the South China Sea region. I 
urge my colleagues to join me in working with our Taiwanese partners to 
promote our common interests and find a viable path to maintain peace 
and stability in the South China Sea.




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