For Immediate Release                                                                                       August 12, 2002  

Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO) expressed concern over the “long-standing ambiguity of U.S. policy towards Taiwan” in a letter to President George Bush last week, citing a DoD report on an apparent military buildup in China. Rep. Graves pointed out that while China has been moving aggressively to increase offensive options against Taiwan, the US policy of “strategic ambiguity” towards Taiwan does not address how the United States should respond if China were to attack Taiwan.

The letter was sent Monday, July 29.

“This report is very troubling,” Rep. Graves wrote. “However even more troubling is that while our stated policy indicates an acknowledgment of ‘one-China,’ it does not address what the United States’ policy should be if Taiwan were attacked by China. I believe that further clarification of the U.S. position should be outlined in a revised policy based on the results of a policy review.”

“It is time to review our policy toward Taiwan to unambiguously account for the possibility of a military conflict between Mainland China and Taiwan and the United States response to such an action,” Graves concluded.

According to FAPA President Wu Ming-chi, who received a copy of the letter, “Rep. Grave’s letter is even more poignant now in light of President Chen’s statement this past weekend that China and Taiwan are separate countries. We agree with Rep. Graves that current U.S. “One China Policy” has its flaws. Now that Taiwan has embraced democracy, but China has aggressively renewed its military threats against Taiwan, it is time to replace “One China Policy”, a cold war relic, with “One China, One Taiwan Policy”, a policy that reflects the reality of the Taiwan Strait.  A clear U.S. policy of support for democratic Taiwan is the best guarantee of peace and stability in the region.”

Moreover, FAPA believes that passage of section 1202 of the Defense Authorization Act, which will go into conference committee in September, will help provide the strategic clarity Rep. Graves has asked for. Section 1202, which calls for better interoperability between the armed forces of the U.S. and Taiwan, is part of the House version of the bill but not the Senate version. FAPA has been working to ensure that the Senate version will cooperate the Section 1202 in the House version.  “The language of Section 1202 is very similar to the ones in Taiwan Security Enhancement Act.  We believe that retaining section 1202 is a vital step towards enhancing U.S. commitment to Taiwan’s security and the stability in the region,” Wu said.