| SCON 140IS 106th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. CON. RES. 140
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding
high-level visits by Taiwanese officials to the United States.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 28 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER
22), 2000
Mr. LOTT (for himself, Mr. HELMS, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. KYL,
Mrs. HUTCHISON, Mr. SMITH of New Hampshire, Mr. BENNETT, and Mr. HUTCHINSON), submitted
the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Relations.
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding
high-level visits by Taiwanese officials to the United States.
Whereas Taiwan is the seventh largest trading
partner of the United States and plays an important role in the economy of the
Asia-Pacific region;
Whereas Taiwan routinely holds free and fair
elections in a multiparty system, as evidenced most recently by Taiwan's second democratic
presidential election of March 18, 2000, in which Mr. Chen Shui-bian was elected as
president of the 23,000,000 people of Taiwan;
Whereas Members of Congress, unlike executive
branch officials, have long had the freedom to meet with leaders of governments with which
the United States does not have formal relations--meetings which provide a vital
opportunity to discuss issues of mutual concern that directly affect United States
national interests;
Whereas several Members of Congress expressed
interest in meeting with President Chen Shui-bian during his 16-hour layover in Los
Angeles, California, en route to Latin America and Africa on August 13, 2000;
Whereas the meeting with President Chen did not
take place because of pressure from Washington and Beijing;
Whereas Congress thereby lost the opportunity to
communicate directly with President Chen about developments in the Asia-Pacific region and
key elements of the relationship between the United States and Taiwan when he visited Los
Angeles;
Whereas there could not be a more important time
to find opportunities to talk to Taiwan's new leaders given the enormous economic,
security, and political interests we share with both Taiwan and the People's Republic of
China, as well as the results of the recent election in Taiwan which provided for the
first party leadership change in Taiwan's history;
Whereas Congress must continue to play an
independent oversight role on United States policy toward Taiwan, and try to find ways to
reduce the threat of war between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China, and in
particular, to counteract China's buildup of missiles pointed at Taiwan;
Whereas the United States continues to cling to
its policy of more than 20 years, which prohibits high-ranking Taiwan leaders from making
official visits to the United States, forcing Members of Congress to choose whether to
rely solely upon indirect assessments provided by the administration or to travel to
Taiwan to obtain this information firsthand, and denying Taiwan's democratically elected
officials the respect they deserve;
Whereas by bestowing upon President Chen the
respect his office deserves, the United States would have demonstrated to the people of
both Taiwan and the People's Republic of China United States support for democracy; and
Whereas the Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 (Public Law
103-416) provides that the President of Taiwan shall be welcome in the United States at
any time to discuss a host of important issues: Now, therefore, be it
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