Dear Mr. President:
On October 24th, you gave a China-policy speech at the Voice of
America. In that speech you touched -- among other issues -- on the
question of Taiwan's future:
"And I will reiterate to President Jiang
America's continuing support for our one China policy, which has
allowed democracy to flourish in Taiwan, and Taiwan's relationship
with the PRC to grow more stable and prosper. The Taiwan question
can only be settled by the Chinese themselves peacefully. "
As Taiwanese-Americans we take strong issue with your statement.
It displays a distinct lack of understanding of two most elemental
aspects of Taiwan's recent history and our identity:
-
Taiwan's progress towards democracy didn't have anything
to do with U.S. "...continuing support for our one
China policy". Taiwan evolved towards a democratic
political system because of the hard work of the people in the
Taiwanese democratic movement, which had to overcome major
resistance from the repressive Kuomintang regime (which clung to
its anachronistic claim to governing all of China). In fact, the
democratization process in Taiwan occurred in spite of
the "One China" policy.
-
To say that the "...Taiwan question can only be
solved by the Chinese themselves peacefully" is as
ludicrous as saying that the United States question can
only be settled by the British themselves. We Taiwanese
have emphasized time and again that we aspire to be a full and
equal member of the international community, based on our Taiwanese
identity and culture. We are not going to let our future as a
free and independent nation be dictated by the Chinese
Communists.
Mr. Clinton, we Taiwanese-Americans strongly urge you not to let
any improvement of relations with China take place at the expense of
the 21 million people of Taiwan or their future as a free,
democratic and independent country. Statements like the one in your
VOA speech show that you have not really heard or understood us in
the Taiwanese-American community yet.
(signed) C.K. Kuo, President
Taiwanese Association of America
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