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CTC Writes
to Wolfowitz
June
7, 2002
The
Honorable Paul Wolfowitz
Deputy Secretary of Defense
The Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301
Dear
Deputy Secretary Wolfowitz:
On April
9, 2002, with over 80 founding members, we established the
Congressional Taiwan Caucus (CTC) in order to promote stronger
U.S.-Taiwan relations and to engage in increased dialogue
and cooperation with the people and government of Taiwan.
Over the past two months, the CTC has met with their legislative
counterparts in the legislative Yuan on several occasions
to discuss issues of mutual concern and to clarify the policies
of both governments and move these policies constructively
forward.
As co-chairs
of the CTC, we are cognizant of the confusion and sensitivities
that often exist concerning the United States policy toward
Taiwan. For this reason, we were especially interested in
your recent statement concerning U.S.-Taiwan relations at
a May 15, 2002 Brookings/Harvard Forum and at a May 29,
2002 Foreign Press Center briefing. Your statements may
have been interpreted by certain individuals as a step backwards
from the United States finely balanced "one China policy"
position and toward support for the People's Republic of
China's (PRC) "one China principle," which insists
that the status of Taiwan is already determined and that
Taiwan is a part of the PRC.
Deputy
Secretary Wolfowitz, we believe that your subsequent clarification
of U.S. policy toward Taiwan, in an interview with the Central
New Agency on May 31, 2002, was important and will help
dispel concerns about this issue. In the interview you stated,
"The president said from the beginning we have a one-China
policy. It basically rests on two propositions. One is that
we do not support Taiwan independence, but just as strongly
and, I believe, central to the whole notion, we oppose the
use of force. The issues have to be settled peacefully.
Frankly, any peaceful settlement is fine with the United
States."
While
we understand and support President Bush's efforts to seek
a "peaceful environment" in the Taiwan Strait,
we believe that U.S. policies in the region must take into
account the rights and well-being of the Taiwanese people
who look to America for moral and political support. Taiwan,
as a model democracy that upholds the highest standards
of political freedom and respect for human rights, deserves
the unwavering support of the American people and government.
We hope that you will re-affirm our nation's iron-clad commitment
to Taiwan as agreed to under the Taiwan Relations Act and
take steps to ensure that the Taiwan Strait issue be resolved
peacefully and with the express consent of the people of
Taiwan.
We hope
that you will emphasize strong support for U.S.-Taiwan relations
in future remarks, and we look forward to hearing from you
concerning U.S. policy toward Taiwan.
Sincerely,
Reps.
Wexler, Rohrabacher, Brown, Chabot
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