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United States Senate, July 7, 1998
Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I am very much concerned about the
perception of what he (Mr. Clinton) had to say, of what the
effect is of what he had to say with regard to Taiwan. Instead
of pressing Beijing to renounce the use of force against Taiwan,
President Clinton accepted Beijing's position on Taiwan. By
ending the ambiguity of the U.S. position, we have harmed
democratic Taiwan's position.
Congress has pressed previous administrations to change its
policies with regard to Taiwan. In fact, the Taiwan Relations
Act of 1979 was a clear example of congressional restraint on
executive actions on Taiwan.
In 1995, we urged the President to grant a visa to Taiwan's
President to enter the U.S. for a college reunion. The
administration changed its position after Congress took that
action.
This resolution is necessary to correct the effects of the
statements that were made in Shanghai. Before Shanghai, U.S.
policy was to acknowledge Beijing's position. Now we have
prepared to make Beijing's position our policy. China refuses to
take the use of force off the table.
We should not unilaterally deny Taiwan membership to
international organizations, and we should not take action in
concert with the dictatorship in Beijing without even consulting
the 21 million people under democratic rule in Taiwan.
Instead of undermining Taiwan, we should support our
fundamental national interest in the peaceful resolution of
differences. We do not want to see a war in the Taiwan Straits.
Deterrence is the way to avoid such a possibility. We should
support the provision of missile defenses to Taiwan so that they
can protect their democracy from a dictatorship's missiles.
We should support Taiwan's membership in international
organizations where they are willing and able to help an
organization's goals--such as free trade and economic stability.
There is a second resolution, S. Con. Res. 30, on the issue of
Taiwan's membership in the IMF and the World Bank. It has
already been passed out of the Foreign Affairs Committee by
unanimous vote. I hope we can pass that resolution this week.
I thank Senator Torricelli and the rest of our cosponsors. I
urge other colleagues to join us because this is certainly a
bipartisan issue. I look forward to rapid Senate action on the
resolution to reaffirm our relationship with Taiwan and the
primacy of the Taiwan Relations Act.
I ask unanimous consent, Mr. President, that editorials from
the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post be printed in
the Record at this point. |