Uphold
Democracy!
Support Taiwan's Right to Unhindered Elections
Be an Original Cosponsor of the Taiwan Free-and-Fair Election
Resolution
March
3, 2000
Dear Colleague:
As you
may know, on March 18th Taiwan will hold free and fair democratic
President elections. Unfortunately, in a clear attempt
to influence election results, China recently broadened its
threat to use force against Taiwan, issuing a new ultimatum
that it would attack Taiwan if the island's leaders failed
to meet China's expectations for reunification talks.
The fact that this ultimatum comes on the eve of democratic
elections in Taiwan demonstrates China's repeated attempts
to intimidate the people of Taiwan. Who can forget March
1996 when Beijing launched missiles into the Taiwan Strait
just miles off Taiwan's largest harbor, in an aggressive effort
to create an election atmosphere of fear?
In light
of such actions, we believe it is timely to introduce a resolution
in support of the people of Taiwan during the run-up to their
important elections. It is certainly the right of the
people of Taiwan to freely elect their president without any
interference from the People's Republic of China.
The resolution
commends the people of Taiwan for having established a democracy
on Taiwan over the past decades and for repeatedly reaffirming
their dedication to democratic ideals. Moreover, it
reaffirms the fundamental U.S. doctrine that the ultimate
status of Taiwan must have the express consent of the people
on Taiwan and must be decided by peaceful means.
Accordingly,
we urge you to join us in bipartisan expression of support
for free and fair elections. We have included a copy
of the resolution for your information. If you have
nay questions, or would like to be an original cosponsor of
the resolution, please contact us directly. Staff may contact
Howard Hechler in Congressman Peter Deutsch's office at 5-7931.
The deadline for becoming an original cosponsor is Wednesday,
March 8.
Sincerely
yours,
Peter
Deutsch (D-FL)
James Rogan (R-CA)
Howard Berman (D-CA)
Robert Andrews (D-NJ)
Richard Baker (R-LA)
Robert Wexler (D-FL)
Steve Chabot (R-OH)
Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
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