China's insistence that Taiwan can only join the World Trade Organization "as a separate customs territory of China" is a serious rebuff to the Clinton Administration, may well jeopardize passage of the PNTR bill and should be firmly rejected.

In a 8/31/00 letter to Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ), the President stated, "We have advised the Chinese that such language is inappropriate and irrelevant to the work of the working party and that we will not accept it."

Undeterred, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sun Yuxi stated today, "The Chinese side has a consistent and clear position: Taiwan can join WTO as a separate customs territory of China."

At a 9/6/00 Foreign Relations Committee meeting, Kyl had noted, "As it always does, China is using yet another diplomatic opportunity to assert its view that Taiwan is nothing more than a province of China. This is an important issue that the President and his Administration need to resolve. They must make it clear that there will be consequences should China fail to live up to its commitments not to block Taiwan's entry to the WTO as a separate customs territory, Chinese Taipei, not a customs territory of China. It is my hope the President can give the Senate such concrete assurances before we begin debate on a bill extending permanent normal trade relations to China, failing which it may be necessary for Congress to consider a legislative solution to this problem."

Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY), a key Senate Foreign Relations Committee supporter of the PNTR bill, and Kyl jousted forcefully over this potential amendment. Thomas argued that any changes to the House version of the PNTR bill would kill the legislation because there would not be enough time to run it through a conference committee and get another vote before Congress adjourns.

Senator Jesse Helms' (R-NC) response to this concern about not having enough time to consider an amended bill was clean enough, "Congress ought to go ahead and do something [about the Taiwan accession language]. How many Members would object to coming back after the election is over? We should stand up for Taiwan now," Helms concluded, "not look for some future commitment."

"The U.S. should firmly stand by Taiwan on this issue," stated Chen Wen-yen, FAPA President. "Taiwan has bent over backwards to fulfill every iota of concern by the U.S. on trade issues and has been ready to enter the WTO for some time now. The U.S. should accept Taiwan for what it is, a full-voiced democracy of 23 million people. U.S. policy has always been to listen carefully to both sides of the Taiwan Strait and to respect both sides. The WTO issue is a great test case to prove our commitment to precisely this policy. With Taiwan's dramatic democratic development, let's let Taiwan be Taiwan."

For more information, contact Michael Fonte at 202-547-3686.