In the second half of November 1996, President Clinton attended the APEC meeting in Manila and met Mr. Jiang Zemin there. Also, Secretary of State Christopher travelled to Beijing to meet with his Chinese counterpart. The Taiwanese community in the United States wrote to President Clinton to ensure that he doesn't give anything away with respect to Taiwan's future. Below is the text of the letter to Mr. Clinton:
President William J. Clinton
The White House
Washington DC
Dear Mr. President:
We express our congratulations to you on your reelection and wish you well in your second term of office. We are pleased to see that Asia has a high priority in you administration, and that you are working to improve relations with all nations in the area, including China.
However, as Taiwanese-Americans we want to 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.
It is clear that the international position of Taiwan hangs in limbo. This is partly due to the shortsighted policies of Taiwan's Kuomintang authorities themselves, who for far too long claimed to be the legitimate rulers of China. The other reason why Taiwan's international position hangs in limbo is the "creative ambiguity" of the anachronistic "One China" policy and the Three Communiqués of 1971, 1978 and 1982, which were arrived at without any consent or representation of the Taiwanese people. Our voice was not heard.
It is clear that the "One China" policy is now outdated, because Taiwan has developed into a free and democratic country. It fulfills all the requirements of a nation-state: a defined territory, a population and a government which exercises effective control. Taiwan is de-facto independent nation, and deserves to be recognized as such.
Mr. Clinton, we urge you strongly to hold the American principles of freedom, democracy, and self-determination high. We request that you express clearly:
1) that it is the right of the people of Taiwan to determine their own future, free from coercion by China;
2) that you support Taiwan's right to be a full member of the international community in general and the United Nations in particular;
3) that it is in China's own interest to move towards peaceful coexistence, and accept Taiwan as a friendly neigbor, instead of perpetuating an old an anachronistic Civil War in which the Taiwanese people had no part; and
4) that the United States will support Taiwan in case of any further Chinese agression.
If such expressions are forthcoming on the occasion of your meeting with Mr. Jiang, then the Taiwanese-American community will continue our support for you. We look forward to hear from you.
Sincerely yours,
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