CTC TO BUSH AT CRAWFORD MEETING WITH JIANG ZEMIN: STAY STRONG RE. TAIWAN

In a letter to President George W. Bush, Congressional Taiwan Caucus co-chairs Steve Chabot (R-OH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Robert Wexler (D-FL) thanked the President for his "steadfast support for the long-standing partnership between the United States and our democratic ally, Taiwan," and said they shared in his emphasis on a US policy "that recognizes the importance of a solution to the Taiwan Strait issue that is peaceful, free of threats and intimidation, and with the express consent of the people of democratic Taiwan."

The Caucus co-chairs asked him to remind Chinese President Jiang Zemin in the upcoming Crawford meeting of the "importance you place on US-Taiwan relations and Taiwan's support for democracy and international human rights," and urged President Bush to "address China's disturbing buildup of 400 missiles along the Taiwan Strait."

Praising Mr. Bush for his praise of Taiwan's democratic development in the recently released National Security Strategy, the CTC chairs stated their belief that "Taiwan is one of our strongest partners in the global campaign to spread democracy, human rights, and the rule of law." Echoing the President's concern for peace and stability in East Asia, the CTC co-chairs noted that such a peace would have "a secure and prosperous Taiwan as a key participant" because it was part of "the family of democracies."

"The CTC co-chairs rightly note that Taiwan shares `American ideals of pursuit of peace, humanitarian rights and democracy," stated Wu Ming-chi, FAPA President. "The message here is quite clear to me: as one of the US' strongest democratic allies, full recognition of Taiwan should be forthcoming. As an ally, Taiwan should be at the international table as a full democratic partner."