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The text of the letter
June 19, 1998
Dear Mr. President:
As you prepare for your summit with the leaders of the
People's Republic of China in Beijing, we would like to share
our thoughts regarding U.S. relations with Taiwan.
The People's Republic of China has in the past shown great
zeal in trying to persuade the United States to compromise our
strong support for Taiwan. We urge you to reject any efforts at
the summit by the Chinese leadership to diminish this support.
Taiwan's stature in the global economy, as evidenced by its
standing as the eighth largest trading partner of the United
States and the largest holder of foreign currency reserves,
makes our continued support for Taiwan critical to our national
interests. Taiwan's recent and rapid political development
resulting in its transformation from an authoritarian
dictatorship into a full-fledged democracy, further underscores
the importance of maintaining our close, mutually beneficial
relationship.
We ask you to carefully consider several policy issues during
your preparation for the summit. First we urge you to reject any
plans to codify any aspect of U.S. policy towards Taiwan which
would deny Taiwan's existence as a separate political entity and
deny the Taiwanese their right to self-determination as
delineated in Article 1 of the United Nations' Charter.
Specifically, we ask that you refrain from a commitment to
formalize the three policy points generally referred to as the "three
noes." These are: no support for the "One China, One
Taiwan" policy, no support for Taiwanese independence, and
no support for Taiwan's membership in international
organizations.
We also urge you to call on the People's Republic of China to
renounce the use of force against Taiwan and to cease blocking
Taiwan's bids for membership in international organizations such
as the United Nations, the World health organization, and the
World Trade Organization. It is important that you reaffirm to
Beijing the terms of the Taiwan Relations Act with regard to
both the continuation of arms sales to Taiwan and the peaceful
resolution of cross-Strait relations.
Sincerely,
Congressmen Peter Deutsch, (D-FL), Gerald Solomon (R-NY),
chairman of the House Rules Committee, Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom
Lantos (D-CA), Peter King (R-NY), Dan Burton (R-IN), Steve
Chabot (R-OH), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Bob Wexler (D-FL), Rober
Andrews (D-NJ), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Brad
Sherman (R-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Robert Menendez
(D-NJ), Howard Berman (D-CA) and Pete Sessions (R-TX). |