Letter to the editor in theNew Jersey Star Ledger

- June 4, 2001

Dear Editor:

Your May 22 article (p.51) reported that many Taiwanese braved rain storms
to show support for Taiwan President's visit to New York. Reliable counts
indicate that about 1,300 Taiwanese were there (please see Footnotes
below).

It is well-known that Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian and his followers
have been under constant threats by missiles and by verbal abuses from
China. Defiant to such threats, people in Taiwan twice elected the
Presidents (Chen and former President Lee Tung-Hui) whom Beijing despises.
On May 21, in showing support to their homeland, thousand Taiwanese headed
to rain storms to greet their President.

Your article mentioned the small pro-China group that is only a fraction
of the size of the pro-Taiwan group. Their small gathering is an
indication, we hope, that most Chinese immigrants in the melting pot of US
have learned and are becoming more civilized to respect the will of
Taiwan. We Taiwanese want to be friends with China, but whether we should
live in one room is an entirely different matter.

Finally, thank you for the report that pro-Taiwan supporters came from as
far as Boston and Hawaii to welcome their President. It was a trip well
worth all the effort.

Chamont Wang
Full Professor
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
The College of New Jersey