SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 123--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT THE FUTURE OF TAIWAN SHOULD BE RESOLVED PEACEFULLY, THROUGH A DEMOCRATIC MECHANISM, WITH THE EXPRESS CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE OF TAIWAN AND FREE FROM OUTSIDE THREATS, INTIMIDATION, OR INTERFERENCE -- (Senate - June 25, 2002)

Mr. TORRICELLI submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

S. Con. Res. 123

Whereas in the San Francisco Peace Treaty signed on September 8, 1951 (3 U. S. T. 3169) (in this resolution referred to as the ``treaty''), Japan renounced all right, title, and claim to Taiwan;

Whereas the signatories of the treaty left the status of Taiwan undetermined;

Whereas the universally accepted principle of self-determination is enshrined in Article 1 of the United Nations Charter;

Whereas the United States is a signatory of the United Nations Charter;

Whereas the United States recognizes and supports that the right to self-determination exists as a fundamental right of all peoples, as set forth in numerous United Nations instruments;

Whereas the people of Taiwan are committed to the principles of freedom, justice, and democracy as evidenced by the March 18, 2000, election of Mr. Chen Shui-bian as Taiwan's President;

Whereas the 1939 Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States defines the qualifications of a nation-state as a defined territory, a permanent population, and a government capable of entering into relations with other states;

Whereas on February 24, 2000, and March 8, 2000, President Clinton stated: ``We will . . . continue to make absolutely clear that the issues between Beijing and Taiwan must be resolved peacefully and with the assent of the people of Taiwan'';

Whereas both the 2000 Republican party platform and the Democratic party platform emphasized and made clear the belief that the future of Taiwan should be determined with the consent of the people of Taiwan; and

Whereas Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on March 16, 2001, that ``what has changed is that any eventual agreement that is arrived at has to be acceptable to the majority of the people on Taiwan'': Now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--

(1) the future of Taiwan should be resolved peacefully, through a democratic mechanism such as a plebiscite and with the express consent of the people of Taiwan; and

(2) the future of Taiwan must be decided by the people of Taiwan without outside threats, intimidation, or interference.

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