III

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. CON. RES. 17

Concerning the 20th Anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 11, 1999

Mr. MURKOWSKI (for himself, Mr. TORRICELLI, Mr. LOTT, Mr. HELMS, Mr.

THOMAS, Mr. BURNS, Mr. KYL, and Mr. ROCKEFELLER) submitted the

following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on

Foreign Relations

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Concerning the 20th Anniversary of the Taiwan Relations

Act.

Whereas April 10, 1999, will mark the 20th anniversary of

the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, codifying in

public law the basis for continued commercial, cultural,

and other relations between the United States and democratic Taiwan;

Whereas the Taiwan Relations Act was advanced by Congress

and supported by the executive branch as a critical tool

to preserve and promote extensive, close, and friendly

commercial, cultural, and other relations between the

United States and the Republic of China on Taiwan;
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Whereas the Taiwan Relations Act has been instrumental in

maintaining peace, security, and stability in the Taiwan

Strait since its enactment in 1979;

Whereas, when the Taiwan Relations Act was enacted, it reaffirmed that the United States decision to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China is

based upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan will

be determined by peaceful means;

Whereas officials of the People’s Republic of China refuse to

renounce the use of force against democratic Taiwan;

Whereas the defense modernization and weapons procurement

efforts by the People’s Republic of China, as documented

in the February 1, 1999, report by the Secretary of Defense on ‘‘The Security Situation in the Taiwan Strait’’,

could threaten cross-strait and East Asian stability and

United States interests in the East Asia region;

Whereas the Taiwan Relations Act provides explicit guarantees that the United States will make available defense

articles and defense services in such quantities as may be

necessary for Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense

capability;

Whereas the Taiwan Relations Act requires timely reviews by

United States military authorities of Taiwan’s defense

needs in connection with recommendations to the President and Congress;

Whereas Congress and the President are committed by section 3(b) of the Taiwan Relations Act (22 U.S.C.

3302(b)) to determine the nature and quantity of what

Taiwan’s legitimate needs are for its self-defense;

Whereas the Republic of China on Taiwan routinely makes

informal requests to United States Government officials,
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which are discouraged or declined informally by United

States Government personnel;

Whereas it is the policy of the United States to reject any

attempt to curb the provision by the United States of defense articles and defense services legitimately needed for

Taiwan’s self-defense;

Whereas it is the current executive branch policy to bar most

high-level dialog regarding regional stability with senior

military officials on Taiwan;

Whereas the Taiwan Relations Act sets forth the policy to

promote extensive commercial relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan, and

that policy is advanced by membership in the World

Trade Organization;

Whereas the human rights provisions in the Taiwan Relations

Act helped stimulate the democratization of Taiwan;

Whereas Taiwan today is a full-fledged, multiparty democracy that fully respects human rights and civil liberties

and, as such, serves as a successful model of democratic

reform for the People’s Republic of China;

Whereas it is the policy of the United States to promote extensive cultural relations between the United States and

Taiwan, ties that should be further encouraged and expanded;

Whereas any attempt to determine Taiwan’s future by other

than peaceful means, including boycotts or embargoes,

would be considered as a threat to the peace and security

of the Western Pacific and of grave concern to the

United States;

Whereas the Taiwan Relations Act established the American

Institute in Taiwan to carry out the programs, trans-
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actions, and other relations of the United States with respect to Taiwan; and

Whereas the American Institute in Taiwan has played a successful role in sustaining and enhancing United States

relations with Taiwan: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives

2 concurring), That it is the sense of the Congress that—

3 (1) the United States should reaffirm its com4 mitment to the Taiwan Relations Act and the spe5 cific guarantees of provision of legitimate defense ar6 ticles to Taiwan contained therein;

7 (2) the Congress has grave concerns over Chi8 na’s growing arsenal of nuclear and conventionally

9 armed ballistic missiles, the movement of those mis10 siles into a closer geographic proximity to Taiwan,

11 and the effect that the buildup may have on stability

12 in the Taiwan Strait;

13 (3) the President should direct all appropriate

14 officials to raise with officials from the People’s Re15 public of China the grave concern of the United

16 States over China’s growing arsenal of nuclear and

17 conventionally armed ballistic missiles, the move18 ment of those missiles into a closer geographic prox19 imity to Taiwan, and the effect that the buildup may

20 have on stability in the Taiwan Strait;
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1 (4) the President should seek from the leaders

2 of the People’s Republic of China a public renunci3 ation of any use of force, or threat to use force,

4 against democratic Taiwan;

5 (5) the President should provide annually a re6 port detailing the military balance on both sides of

7 the Taiwan Strait, including the impact of procure8 ment and modernization programs underway;

9 (6) the Secretary of Defense should inform the

10 appropriate committees of Congress when officials

11 from Taiwan seek to purchase defense articles for

12 self-defense;

13 (7) the United States Government should en14 courage a high-level dialog with officials of Taiwan

15 and of other United States allies in East Asia, in16 cluding Japan and South Korea, on the best means

17 to ensure stability, peace, and freedom of the seas

18 in East Asia;

19 (8) it should be United States policy, in con20 formity with the spirit of section 4(d) of the Taiwan

21 Relations Act (22 U.S.C. 3303(d)), to publicly sup22 port Taiwan’s admission to the World Trade Organi23 zation forthwith, on its own merits as well as to en24 courage others to adopt similar policies, without

25 making such admission conditional on the previous
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1 or simultaneous admission of the People’s Republic

2 of China to the World Trade Organization.

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