Resolution on Safety and Security of Taiwan

On 7 March 1996, more than eighty members of the U.S. House of Representatives cosponsored a Resolution in the Congress stating that"the United States is committed to the military stability of the Taiwan Straits and United States military forces should defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion, missile attack, or blockade by the People's Republic of China." The Resolution was initiated by Congressman Christopher Cox of California.

The text of the Resolution as eventually passed by the House on 19 March 1996 in a 369 - 14 vote is as follows:

Expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States is committed to the military stability of the Taiwan Strait and United States should assist in defending Taiwan in the event of invasion, missile attack, or blockade by the People's Republic of China.

• Whereas the United States began its long, peaceful, and friendly relationship with Taiwan in 1949;
• Whereas, since the enactment in 1979 of the Taiwan Relations Act, the policy of the United States has been based on the expectation that the future relationship between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means and by mutual agreement between the parties;
• Whereas the PRC's intense efforts to intimidate Taiwan have reached a level that threatens to undermine stability throughout the region;
• Whereas since the beginning of 1996, the leaders of the PRC have frequently and unambiguously threatened to use military force against Taiwan;
• Whereas for the past year the PRC has conducted military maneuvers designed to intimidate Taiwan both during its democratic legislative elections in 1995 and during the period preceding democratic presidential elections in March 1996;
• Whereas these military maneuvers and tests have included the firing of 6 nuclear-capable missiles approximately 100 miles north of Taiwan in July 1995;
• Whereas the firing of missiles near Taiwan and the interruption of international shipping and aviation lanes threaten both Taiwan and the political, military, and commercial interests of the United States and its allies;
• Whereas in the face of such action, Taiwan is entitled to defend itself from military aggression, including through the development of an anti-ballistic missile defense system;
• Whereas the United States and Taiwan have enjoyed a long-standing and uninterrupted friendship, which has only increased in light of the remarkable economic development and political liberalization in Taiwan in recent years;
• Whereas Taiwan has achieved tremendous economic success, becoming now the 19th largest economy in the world;
• Whereas Taiwan has reached a historic turning point in the development of democracy, as on March 23 1996, it will conduct the first competitive, free, fair, direct, and popular election of a head of state in over 4,000 years of recorded Chinese history;
• Whereas for the past century the United States has promoted democracy and economic freedom around the world, and the evolution of Taiwan is an outstanding example of the success of that policy;
• Whereas the Taiwan Relations Act directs the President to inform the Congress promptly of any threat to Taiwan's security and provides that the President and the Congress together shall determine appropriate United States action in response; and
• Whereas the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 rests on the premise that the United States will assist Taiwan should it face any effort to determine the future by any other than peaceful means, including by boycotts or embargoes;

Now Therefore be it Resolved by the House of Representatives, (the Senate Concurring) That it is the sense of the Congress that

(1) the People's Republic of China should immediately live up to its commitment to the United States to work for a peaceful resolution of any disagreements with Taiwan, and accordingly desist from military action designed to intimidate Taiwan;

(2) the People's Republic of China should engage in diplomatic negotiations to discuss outstanding points of disagreement with Taiwan without any threat of military or economic coercion against Taiwan;

(3) Taiwan has stated and should adhere to its commitment to negotiate its future relations with the mainland by mutual, not unilateral, decision;

(4) the United States should maintain its commitment to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people of Taiwan, consistent with its undertakings in the Taiwan Relations Act;

(5) the United States should maintain a naval presence sufficient to keep open the sea lanes in and near the Taiwan Straits;

(6) in the face of the several overt military threats by the People's Republic of China against Taiwan and consistent with the commitment of the United States under the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States should supply Taiwan with defensive weapon systems, includingnaval vessels, aircraft, and air defense, all of which are crucial to the security of Taiwan, and

(7) the United States, in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act and the constitutional process of the United States, and consistent with its friendship with , and commitment to, the democratic government and people of Taiwan, should assist in defending them against invasion, missile attack, or blockade by the People's Republic of China.

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