Letter to the Editor in the Los Angeles Times - May 24, 2001

"Bush Administration Policy on Taiwan"

Re "U.S. Tilt to Taipei Is Seen as Risky," May 21: I do not see the logic behind Robert L. Suettinger's (of Rand Corp.) argument that treating a duly elected leader of Taiwan, a democracy of 24 million people, with respect is risky. Do people really think that China's behavior will change if the U.S. always says yes?

Yes, a one-China policy has served its purpose in the past 20 years. But China knows quite well that America's one-China policy is not a principle. It can be and will be reformulated according to the new reality: Taiwan is a vibrant democracy, and the reunification with China is not the only option for people in Taiwan.

Washington should politely tell Beijing to grow up and to stop forcing others to accept its false claim that Taiwan is its renegade province. The U.S. should conduct a foreign policy that advances the U.S. national interest and values, and doesn't just cater to orders from Communist China. President Bush's current approaches to China--firm and resolved--seem to be working.

Wencheng Lin
Hacienda Heights