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President
George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We proudly support the foreign policy objective you
have set out in your National Security Strategy: "to
help make the world not just safer but better." You
note that "America must stand firmly for the
nonnegotiable demands of human dignity; the rule of law;
limits on the absolute power of the state; free speech;
freedom of worship; equal justice; respect for women;
religious and ethnic tolerance; and respect for private
property."
With you we applaud Taiwan as a success story where
"we see democratic processes take hold among our
friends" and where the nonnegotiable demands of human
dignity are so firmly upheld.
It is our understanding that Taiwan is currently
moving to make its democratic processes more reflective of
the will of the Taiwanese people through judicial,
legislative and Constitutional changes. One such change is a
referendum law through which Taiwan's citizens might express
their will on domestic concerns.
Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian has made it clear
that he continues to hold to the "five nos" of his
inauguration speech, including the promise not to hold a
plebiscite on the issue of Taiwanese independence. The clear
precondition for the five nos is that China would not use
force against Taiwan.
We believe that President Chen's promise meets the
U.S. concern that there be no unilateral moves by either the
People's republic of China or Taiwan concerning resolution
of the Taiwan Strait question.
We also believe that a Taiwan referendum law is a
basic democratic right that should be supported by your
Administration. We believe that the future of Taiwan must be
determined peacefully, with the express consent of the
people of Taiwan. Since its establishment, the United States
has been the foremost champion of
liberty and democracy in the world. We can,
therefore, not afford to tell the people of Taiwan not to
hold a referendum. There can be no double standard when it
comes to exercising democracy.
We look forward to continued discussions with you
about Taiwan and our policy toward this fine democratic
friend.
Sincerely,
SENATOR GEORGE ALLEN SENATOR JON KYL
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