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[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 9, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6306-S6315]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

REGARDING THE VISIT BY PRESIDENT LEE TENG-HUI OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
                     ON TAIWAN TO THE UNITED STATES

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now turn to 
the consideration of Calendar No. 103, House Concurrent Resolution 53, 
relative to the visit by the President of China on Taiwan, and that no 
amendments be in order to the resolution or the preamble.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? The Chair hears none, and 
it is so ordered.
  The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 53) expressing the 
     sense of the Congress regarding a private visit by President 
     Lee Teng-hui of the Republic of China on Taiwan to the United 
     States.

  The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thank the Chair. 
   [[Page S6307]] Mr. President, I rise to speak in favor of House 
Concurrent Resolution 53, which is a concurrent resolution expressing 
the sense of the Congress that the President of the Republic of China 
on Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui, be allowed to visit the United States. House 
Concurrent Resolution 53 is almost identical to my concurrent 
resolution, Senate Concurrent Resolution 9, which has 52 bipartisan 
cosponsors, including both the majority and minority leaders, for which 
I am most grateful. I ask unanimous consent the names of the cosponsors 
of Senate Concurrent Resolution 9 be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the list was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

              Cosponsors of Senate Concurrent Resolution 9

       Abraham (R-MI)
       Akaka (D-HI)
       Ashcroft (R-MO)
       Bond (R-MO)
       Brown, Hank (R-CO)
       Burns (R-MT)
       Campbell (R-CO)
       Chafee (R-RI)
       Coats (R-IN)
       Cochran (R-MS)
       Cohen (R-ME)
       Conrad (D-ND)
       Coverdell (R-GA)
       Craig (R-ID)
       D'Amato (R-NY)
       Daschle (D-SD)
       DeWine (R-OH)
       Dole (R-KS)
       Dorgan (D-ND)
       Faircloth (R-NC)
       Feingold (D-WI)
       Gorton (R-WA)
       Grams (R-MN)
       Grassley (R-IA)
       Gregg (R-NH)
       Hatch (R-UT)
       Hatfield (R-OR)
       Helms (R-NC)
       Hutchison (R-TX)
       Inouye (D-HI)
       Jeffords (R-VT)
       Kassebaum (R-KS)
       Kempthorne (R-ID)
       Kyl (R-AZ)
       Lieberman (D-CT)
       Lugar (R-IN)
       Mack (R-FL)
       McCain (R-AZ)
       McConnell (R-KY)
       Nickles (R-OK)
       Pell (R-RI)
       Robb (D-VA)
       Rockefeller (D-WV)
       Roth, William (R-DE)
       Simon (D-IL)
       Simpson (R-WY)
       Smith (R-NH)
       Snowe (R-ME)
       Specter (R-PA)
       Thomas (R-WY)
       Thompson (R-TN)
       Thurmond (R-SC)
       Warner (R-VA)

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, Senate Concurrent Resolution 9 was 
unanimously reported out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 
March of this year. That resolution specifically calls on President 
Clinton to allow President Lee Teng-hui to come to the United States on 
a private visit, and I wish to emphasize private. House Concurrent 
Resolution 53 was submitted in the House by Congressmen Lantos, 
Solomon, and Torricelli, and adopted by the House by a rollcall vote of 
396 to zero last week.
  Mr. President, the question is, Should we let the People's Republic 
of China dictate who can visit the United States? The current State 
Department policy of claiming that allowing President Lee to visit 
would upset relations with the People's Republic of China officials 
personally is offensive to this Senator.
  Taiwan is a friend. They have made great strides toward American 
goals--ending martial law, holding free and fair elections, allowing a 
vocal press, and steadily improving human rights.
  Taiwan is friendly, democratic, and prosperous. Taiwan is the 6th 
largest trading partner of the United States, and the world's 13th 
largest. The Taiwanese buy twice as much from the United States as from 
the People's Republic of China. Taiwan has the largest foreign reserves 
and contributes substantially to international causes.
  Unfortunately, the United States continues to give the cold shoulder 
to the leader of Taiwan. You will recall last May, we were embarrassed 
when the State Department refused an overnight visit for President Lee, 
who was in transit from Taiwan to Central America. His aircraft had to 
stop for refueling in Hawaii and he would have preferred to stay 
overnight before continuing on. Unfortunately, the State Department 
continues to indicate that the administration will not look favorably 
on a request for a private visit.
  Mr. President, Taiwan and the People's Republic of China are making 
significant progress in relations between the two of them. I call my 
colleagues' attention to the existence of an organization known as the 
Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. That organization 
operates in Beijing. The counter to that is the Mainland Affairs 
Council in Taiwan. These two groups get together regularly. They talk 
about everything conceivable except the political differences between 
the two countries. That conversation includes such things as hijacking; 
it also includes such things as eliminating the necessity of goods from 
Taiwan having to go through Hong Kong before they can come into the 
People's Republic of China. They are addressing now the direct shipment 
of goods from Taiwan to the mainland of China.
  So here we have evidence that there is this dialog based on trade and 
commerce, but still the United States is afraid to take steps to 
encourage our trade and commerce with Taiwan because of the objections 
from the People's Republic of China.
  Now, we know that the People's Republic of China will object to a 
visit by President Lee because the People's Republic of China complains 
loudly about many United States initiatives such as United States 
pressure at the United Nations with regard to China's human rights 
practices, criteria for China's World Trade Organization membership, 
and anything we do to help Taiwan. But in the end, the People's 
Republic of China Government makes a calculation about when to risk its 
access to the United States and our market. And I think we should make 
the same calculation.
  The precedent does exist, my colleagues, for a visit by President 
Lee. The administration has welcomed other unofficial leaders to the 
United States--the Dalai Lama called on Vice President Gore, over the 
People's Republic of China's objections, I might add. Yasser Arafat 
came to a White House ceremony. Gerry Adams has been granted numerous 
visits over Britain's objections.
  In these cases, the administration I think has made the correct 
choice to allow visits to advance American goals, and President Lee's 
visit would do the same thing. The USA-ROC Economic Council Conference 
is going to be held in Anchorage, AK, in September. Visiting Alaska 
would not be a political statement, by any means. We consider 
ourselves, as my Alaskan colleague Senator Stevens often remarks, 
almost another country. President Lee's alma mater, Cornell University 
in New York, would like him to visit in June to give a speech. It is 
completely a private matter. It is not a matter of a state visit.
  I have heard suggestions that the Special Olympics, which will be 
held in Connecticut, might extend an invitation to President Lee, as 
well.
  So I would call on my colleagues to vote to send a strong signal to 
the administration that President Lee should be allowed to make a 
private--and I emphasize ``private''--visit. I call on the 
administration to change the policy because it is simply the right 
thing to do and it is the right time to do it.
  If the administration does not change the policy based on this 
resolution, I think they are going to face binding legislation that 
would force the President to allow the visit. The administration should 
act before facing such a situation.
  Mr. President, it is my intention to ask for the yeas and nays on 
this resolution.
  I also ask unanimous consent that editorials from cities around the 
country supporting the Lee visit be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the editorials were ordered to be printed 
in the Record, as follows:

                 [From the Boston Globe, Apr. 17, 1995]

                     A Snub for Taiwan's Democrats

       Taiwan's president, an alumnus of Cornell, wants to address 
     his alma mater this June. But a visit to the United States by 
     Lee Teng-hui is something that will not happen, says the 
     assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs.
       This pusillanimous attitude ought to change, both for 
     reasons of courtesy and as a sign the United States applauds 
     Lee's work in moving Taiwan toward full democracy. 
      [[Page S6308]]  The United States has a vital interest in 
     the sustenance of democratic governments in Asia.
       At issue is the two-China question, one that has vexed US 
     policy makers since Mao Zedong's Communists took over all of 
     China except the island of Taiwan in 1949. For a generation, 
     The United States erred in ignoring the Communist reality; it 
     should not now denigrate the success of Taiwan.
       While the mainland was enduring the excesses of the 
     Cultural Revolution, the people of Taiwan were laying the 
     groundwork for an economic boom. As Beijing cracked down on 
     dissidents, the Nationalists on Taiwan were opening up their 
     regime. Last December an opposition leader was elected mayor 
     of Taipei, the capital.
       While acknowledging these achievements, Assistant Secretary 
     of State Winston Lord said last year that the United States 
     should do nothing that Beijing would perceive as lending 
     ``officiality'' to US relations with Taiwan. This fear of 
     offending Beijing explains why Lee was denied permission to 
     visit Cornell last June and why Lord implied he should not 
     bother to apply for a visa this year.
       When thousands of Taiwanese regularly come to the United 
     States, it is inconsistent to prohibit a private visit by 
     Lee. Moreover, it compounds the insulting treatment he 
     received last year when he was denied permission to spend the 
     night in Honolulu while en route to Latin America. As an 
     alumnus of an American university, he has ties to the United 
     States that transcend politics.
       Cornell wants Lee to give a speech at reunion weekend, Lord 
     says Taiwan ``has shown that political openness must 
     accompany political reform and that Asians value freedom as 
     much as other people around the globe.'' That message ought 
     to be heard by university alumni and a billion Chinese.
                                                                    ____

          [From the Providence Sunday Journal, Mar. 19, 1995]

                         Dishonorable Diplomacy

       Lee Teng-hui came to the United States as a foreign student 
     and earned his Ph.D. in 1968 from Cornell University, one of 
     the nation's premier institutions. His thesis was cited as 
     the year's best dissertation by the American Association of 
     Agricultural Economics. After returning home, he had an 
     eventful career, topped off in 1990 by being elected 
     president of his native land, one of America's oldest and 
     most loyal Asian allies.
       To honor Mr. Lee, Cornell officials have invited him to 
     participate in a three-day alumni reunion at the campus in 
     Ithaca, N.Y., in June, when he is scheduled to deliver the 
     school's prestigious Olin Lecture.
       A heartwarming story. But there's one big problem: 
     President Clinton may bar Mr. Lee from visiting Cornell.
       Why? Because Mr. Lee is the president of Taiwan, and the 
     Clinton administration fears that the Communist regime of the 
     Chinese mainland will be offended if he is allowed to come to 
     America. It's as simple--and as outrageous--as that.
       Now, we can understand why officials in Beijing wouldn't 
     want Mr. Lee to visit this country and receive the honors. 
     They hate and fear him and what he stands for because his 
     regime has put the Communists and all their works to shame. 
     He heads a rival Chinese government that, by following 
     largely market-oriented policies, has spearheaded the 
     relatively small (population: 20 million) island of Taiwan's 
     rise as a major player on the world's economic scene. 
     Meanwhile, the Communists--by following the bizarre schemes 
     of the ``Great Helmsman,'' the late Mao Tse-tung--crippled 
     mainland China's economic development (until, in recent 
     years, they finally started to move away from Marxist 
     follies).
       Furthermore, the regime on Taiwan is rapidly democratizing 
     itself, allowing the presence of an active opposition party, 
     which has won a strong minority of seats in the legislature. 
     In this regard, it ought to be emphasized that Mr. Lee is the 
     freely elected president of Taiwan. Whereas the Communists 
     now ruling in Beijing--while admittedly not as bad as the 
     mass murderer, Mao Tse-tung--cling to their dictatorial 
     power: no opposition parties, no freedom of speech or press, 
     no free elections. And, of course, no freely elected 
     presidents.
       Which gets us back to Mr. Lee. President Clinton, a Rhodes 
     Scholar, is a clever fellow. And he has available to him some 
     very high-priced legal talent, as well as numerous figures--
     in and out of the State Department--with considerable 
     experience and skill in the diplomatic arts. President 
     Clinton should be able to figure out an adroit way to allow 
     Mr. Lee to make what is essentially a private visit to 
     Cornell and receive his well-deserved honors.
       If the Communists in Beijing want to fuss and fume, let 
     them. They may no longer be our enemies, but they are most 
     assuredly not yet our friends. Mr. Lee, on the other hand, 
     represents a brave people who have been our friends and 
     allies for more than four decades. If Mr. Clinton bars Mr. 
     Lee from coming here, he would dishonor not only himself, 
     which would be his business, but the entire United States as 
     well, and the American people should not stand for that.
                                                                    ____

               [From the Washington Times, Apr. 9, 1995]

                     Unwelcome Mat for Our Friends

                          (By Arnold Beichman)

       There is every possibility that President Lee Teng-hui of 
     Taiwan may one day be allowed to enter the United States just 
     like Yasser Arafat and Gerry Adams, onetime terrorists, and 
     other statesmen as distinguished as the head of the Palestine 
     Liberation Organization or the leader of Sinn Fein who have 
     been allowed to do so.
       The possibility of a visit by the elected president of 
     Asia's island democracy has arisen because the House of 
     Representatives International Relations Committee has urged 
     President Clinton to allow Mr. Lee to enter the United 
     States. Mr. Lee has been invited to attend graduation 
     exercises at his alma mater, Cornell University.
       The House panel didn't ask President Clinton personally to 
     receive President Lee. How could it? After all, the 
     appointments schedule of the president of the United States 
     is controlled by the Politburo of the Chinese Communist 
     Party, which decides what Chinese the president may or may 
     not receive. So all the House panel asked Mr. Clinton to do 
     is to allow President Lee to visit--that's it, nothing more--
     just visit the United States. If Mr. Clinton turns down that 
     request will that mean the Chinese Politburo controls our 
     Immigration and Naturalization Service, too? Perhaps Mr. 
     Clinton could ask the Chinese Politburo to do something about 
     illegal immigration.
       It isn't the first time that the appointments schedule of 
     the president of the United States was under the control of a 
     foreign communist power. In 1975, President Ford declined to 
     receive Alexander Solzhenitsyn since such an act of 
     hospitality and respect for human rights would have offended 
     the Soviet Politburo. Or so Secretary of State Kissinger 
     believed. After his election defeat in 1976, Mr. Ford 
     confessed that he had erred in barring the great Russian 
     dissident from the White House.
       The power of the Chinese Communist Politburo extends not 
     only to which Chinese can visit the United States but it also 
     determines who can overnight on our soil. Last year, Mr. Lee 
     was barred from overnighting in Honolulu lest such a simple 
     act enrage the Beijing gerontocrats. However, it's quite all 
     right to enrage the British government and Prime Minister 
     John Major in receiving Gerry Adams and allowing him to 
     engage in dubious fund raising.
       What presidents and their advisers do not understand is 
     that the reaction of totalitarians to American policy depends 
     less on a given American action than it does on the party's 
     long-range view. It didn't matter to Josef Stalin that Adolf 
     Hitler inveighed against the Soviet Union or communism. When 
     it suited Stalin's needs, he signed a Nazi-Soviet pact in 
     August 1939. And when it suited Hitler, he attacked the 
     U.S.S.R. despite the Nazi-Soviet Pact. President Nixon 
     ordered the bombing of North Vietnam while he was in Moscow. 
     The Soviet Politburo didn't order Mr. Nixon out of the Soviet 
     Union to show its displeasure. Moscow negotiated with the 
     United States despite the bombing of its military ally, North 
     Vietnam.
       Whenever it suits Beijing to violate its agreements with 
     the United States, it will. Whenever it suits Beijing to lose 
     its temper with Mr. Clinton, it will--regardless of 
     protestations of past friendship.
       For the United States to continue to treat Taiwan as an 
     outcast nation as it has for a quarter-century because of the 
     Communist Politburo is a sign of weakness that will not be 
     lost on Deng Xiao-ping's successors. After all, Taiwan's 
     democratic credentials are of the highest. Its market economy 
     has propelled Taiwan--remember this is a country with a 
     population of but 21 million--into the 13th largest trading 
     nation in the world. Taiwan enjoys a rule of law. It 
     recognizes property rights. There is a legal opposition and a 
     free press.
       If we continue to treat a friendly people, a friendly 
     government and its chosen representatives as nonpersons at a 
     time when we would like to see a world of democracies and 
     when to further that course we have even sent troops 
     overseas, as we did to Haiti, isn't it time--at the very 
     least!--to tell the Beijing totalitarians that the president 
     of Taiwan can overnight on American soil anytime he wants to? 
     And, perhaps, even stay for two nights?
                                                                    ____

               [From the Washington Post, Mar. 31, 1995]

             Kowtow--The State Department's Bow to Beijing

                            (By Lorna Hahn)

       Lee Teng-hui, president of the Republic of China on Taiwan, 
     wishes to accept an honorary degree from Cornell University, 
     where he earned his PhD in agronomy.
       Last year, when Cornell made the same offer, Lee was 
     refused entry into the United States because Beijing 
     belligerently reminded the State Department that granting a 
     visa to a Taiwanese leader would violate the principle of 
     ``One China'' (Cornell subsequently sent an emissary to 
     Taipei for a substitute ceremony.) This year, on Feb. 9, 
     Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord told a 
     congressional hearing that our government ``will not reverse 
     the policies of six administrations of both parties.''
       It is high time it did. The old policy was adopted at a 
     time when China and Taiwan were enemies, Taiwan's government 
     claimed to represent all of China, and Beijing's leaders 
     would never dream of meeting cordially with their 
     counterparts from Taipei. Today, things are very different.
        [[Page S6309]] Upon assuming office in 1988, Lee dropped 
     all pretense of ever reconquering the mainland and granted 
     that the Communists do indeed control it. Since then, he has 
     eased tensions and promoted cooperation with the People's 
     Republic of China through the Lee Doctrine, the pragmatic, 
     flexible approach through which he (1) acts independently 
     without declaring independence, which would provoke Chinese 
     wrath and perhaps an invasion; (2) openly recognizes the PRC 
     government and its achievements and asks that it reciprocate, 
     and (3) seeks to expand Taiwan's role in the world while 
     assuring Beijing that he is doing so as a fellow Chinese who 
     has their interests at heart as well.
       Lee claims to share Beijing's dream of eventual 
     reunification--provided it is within a democratic, free-
     market system. Meanwhile, he wants the PRC--and the world--to 
     accept the obvious fact that China has since 1949 been a 
     divided country, like Korea, and that Beijing has never 
     governed or represented Taiwan's people. Both governments, he 
     believes, should be represented abroad while forging ties 
     that could lead to unity.
       To this end he has fostered massive investments in the 
     mainland, promoted extensive and frequent business, cultural, 
     educational and other exchanges, and offered to meet 
     personally with PRC President Jiang Zemin to discuss further 
     cooperation. His policies are so well appreciated in 
     Beijing--which fears the growing strength of Taiwan's pro-
     independence movement--that Jiang recently delivered a highly 
     conciliatory speech to the Taiwanese people in which he 
     suggested that their leaders exchange visits.
       If China's leaders are willing to welcome Taiwan's 
     president to Beijing, why did their foreign ministry on March 
     9, once again warn that ``we are opposed to Lee Teng-hui 
     visiting the United States in any form''? Because Beijing 
     considers the ``Taiwan question'' to be an ``internal 
     affair'' in which, it claims, the United States would be 
     meddling if it granted Lee a visa.
       But Lee does not wish to come here in order to discuss the 
     ``Taiwan question'' or other political matters, and he does 
     not seek to meet with any American officials. He simply 
     wishes to accept an honor from a private American 
     institution, and perhaps discuss with fellow Cornell alumni 
     the factors that have contributed to Taiwan's--and China's--
     outstanding economic success.
       President Clinton has yet to make the final decision 
     regarding Lee's visit. As Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn.) 
     recently stated: ``It seems to me illogical not to allow 
     President Lee on a private basis to go back to his alma 
     mater.'' As his colleague Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) added: 
     ``It is embarrassing for many of us to think that, after 
     encouraging the people and government on Taiwan to 
     democratize, which they have, [we forbid President Lee] to 
     return to the United States . . . to receive an honorary 
     degree.''
                                                                    ____

             [From the Wall Street Journal, Mar. 15, 1995]

                              Two Visitors

       Gerry Adams can tour the United States, but Lee Teng-hui 
     can't. Gerry Adams will be feted and celebrated Friday at the 
     White House, but when Lee Teng-hui's plane landed in Honolulu 
     last year, the U.S. government told him to gas up and get 
     out. The Gerry Adams who is being treated like a head of 
     state by the Clinton Administration is the leader of Sinn 
     Fein, the political arm of the Irish Republican Army. The Lee 
     Teng-hui who has been treated like an international pariah by 
     the Administration is the democratically elected President of 
     the Republic of China, or Taiwan. The disparate treatment of 
     these two men tells an awful lot about the politics and 
     instincts of the Clinton presidency.
       Gerry Adams's face will be all over the news for his Saint 
     Paddy's Day party with Bill O'Clinton at the White House, so 
     we'll start with the background on the less-publicized 
     President of Taiwan.
       Cornell University has invited President Lee to come to the 
     school's Ithaca, N.Y., campus this June to address and attend 
     an alumni reunion. In 1968, Mr. Lee received his doctorate in 
     agricultural economics from Cornell. The following year, the 
     American Association of Agricultural Economics gave Mr. Lee's 
     doctoral dissertation, on the sources of Taiwan's growth, its 
     highest honor. In 1990, Taiwan's voters freely elected Mr. 
     Lee as their President. He has moved forcefully to liberalize 
     Taiwan's political system, arresting corrupt members of his 
     own party. Last year, the Asian Wall Street Journal 
     editorialized: ``Out of nothing, Taiwan's people have created 
     an economic superpower relative to its population, as well as 
     Asia's most rambunctious democracy and a model for neighbors 
     who are bent on shedding authoritarian ways.''
       Asked last month about President Lee's visit to Ithaca, 
     Secretary of State Christopher, who professes to wanting 
     closer links with Taiwan, said that ``under the present 
     circumstances'' he couldn't see it happening. The 
     Administration doesn't want to rile its relationship with 
     Beijing. The Communist Chinese don't recognize Taiwan and 
     threaten all manner of retaliation against anyone who even 
     thinks about doing so. That includes a speech to agricultural 
     economists in upstate New York. This, Secretary Christopher 
     testified, is a ``difficult issue.''
       Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams, meanwhile, gets the red carpet 
     treatment at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Mr. Adams assures his 
     American audiences that the IRA is out of the business of 
     blowing body parts across the streets of London. He promises 
     the doubters that if people give him money, it won't be used 
     to buy more guns, bullets and bombs for the high-strung lads 
     of the IRA.
       Now before the Irish American communities of Queens and 
     Boston get too roiled over our skepticism toward Northern 
     Ireland's most famous altar boy, we suggest they take their 
     grievances to John Bruton, who is Irish enough to be the 
     Prime Minister of Ireland. He, too, will be at Bill Clinton's 
     St. Patrick's Day party for Gerry Adams, and he has a message 
     for the two statesmen: The IRA has to give up its arms. 
     ``This is an item on the agenda that must be dealt with,'' 
     Premier Bruton said Monday in Dublin. ``It's a very serious 
     matter. There are genuine fears felt by members of the 
     community that have been at the receiving end of the 
     violence.''
       We don't at all doubt that somewhere amid the Friday 
     merriment, Mr. Clinton will ask Mr. Adams to give up the guns 
     and that Mr. Adams will tell the President that is surely the 
     IRA's intent, all other matters being equal.
       It is hard to know precisely what motivates Mr. Clinton to 
     lionize a Gerry Adams and snub a Lee Teng-hui. The deference 
     to China doesn't fully wash, because when Britain--our former 
     ally in several huge wars this century--expressed its 
     displeasure over the Adams meeting, the White House 
     essentially told the Brits to lump it. Perhaps the end of the 
     Cold War has liberated liberal heads of state into a state of 
     light-headedness about such matters. We note also this week 
     that France's President Francois Mitterrand has been 
     entertaining Fidel Castro at the Elysees Palace.
       But it's still said that Bill Clinton has a great sense of 
     self-preservation. So if he's willing to personally embrace 
     Gerry Adams while stiffing the Prime Minister of England and 
     forbidding the President of Taiwan to spend three days with 
     his classmates in Ithaca, there must be something in it 
     somewhere for him.
                                                                    ____

          [From the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Apr. 22, 1995]

                             Let Lee Visit

       Eleven months after Communist China's old tyrants loosed 
     the tanks on pro-democracy students in Tiananmen Square, 
     Taiwan's new president, Lee Teng-Hui, released several 
     political prisoners--the first step in his rapid march to 
     democratizing ``the other China.'' Now guess who--the despots 
     or the democrat--is being banned from setting foot in the 
     Land of the Free.
       Secretary of State Warren Christopher drones that to grant 
     Lee a visa to address his alma mater, Cornell University, in 
     June would be ``inconsistent with the unofficial character of 
     our relationship'' with Taiwan.
       That relationship dates from 1979, when Jimmy Carter 
     severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan to stroke Beijing, which 
     views the island nation as a rebellious province. Presumably, 
     the red carpet remains out for the massacre artists whose 
     sensibilities Christopher cossets.
       Not everyone in Washington abides this outrage against a 
     country making strides toward real political pluralism and 
     free-market economics. The House Committee on International 
     Relations, burying partisanship, recently voted 33-0 in moral 
     support of Lee's visit. (The Senate Foreign Relations 
     Committee backed a similar resolution in March.)
       With more bite, Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) has 
     introduced legislation that would compel the State Department 
     to issue visas to democratically elected Taiwanese leaders. 
     Meanwhile, Cornell president Frank Rhodes says Lee's return 
     to campus ``would offer an extraordinary educational 
     opportunity.''
       The administration's posture--stubborn pusillanimity--is 
     odd. Lee's visit clearly would not be a state-to-state 
     affair. If Communist China's leaders sulked anyway, so what? 
     How would they retaliate? Give their tank commanders 
     directions to California? Refuse to sell us the $31.5 billion 
     in goods they exported to the United States in 1994?
       Congress should reaffirm America's welcome to democracy's 
     friends by quickly passing the Torricelli bill; as for the 
     administration, its Christopher is obviously no patron saint 
     to all travelers.
                                                                    ____

              [From the Durham Herald-Sun, Apr. 20, 1995]

              Taiwan President; Sorry, You Can't Talk Here

       For a country that beats its chest about freedom of speech, 
     we're setting a very hypocritical example in the case of Lee 
     Teng-Hui, the president of Taiwan. He wants to come back to 
     Cornell University, his alma mater, to give a speech.
       No way, says the Clinton administration, which argues that 
     mainland China is the one and only China. Presumably that 
     leaves Taiwan, at least in Washington's eyes, as pretty much 
     what Beijing says it is: a rebellious province.
       Rebellious or not, at least Taiwan is moving toward a more 
     open and democratic society than the mainland. Yet Lee is 
     being denied a visa for his Cornell visit because, in the 
     words of Secretary of State Warren Christopher, it would be 
     ``inconsistent with the unofficial character'' of this 
     country's relationship with Taiwan. The United States 
     recognized Taiwan as the legitimate government of China until 
     1979, when then President Jimmy Carter decided that ties with 
     the mainland regime were more vital to the interests of the 
     United States.
       In the long shadow of history, Carter's decision is likely 
     to win favor as the correct 
      [[Page S6310]]  one. But that doesn't mean we ought to slam 
     the door on the elected leader of Taiwan just because the 
     gerontocracy in Beijing might get a case of political 
     heartburn. These fellows are, after all, the very officials 
     who turned the Chinese army loose in Tiananmen Square.
       In any case, Lee's visit to Cornell would not be a pomp-
     and-circumstance state visit, but rather a low-visibility 
     affair. The House Committee on International Relations knew 
     that when it voted 33-0 on a resolution backing Lee's visit. 
     The Senate Foreign Relations Committee also adopted a 
     resolution in favor of Lee. In addition, Frank Rhodes, the 
     president of Cornell, has spoken up for Lee.
       Rep. Robert Torricelli, a New Jersey Democrat, is so 
     incensed by the administration's deliberate snub of Lee that 
     he has introduced a bill in the House that would mandate the 
     State Department to issue a visa to Lee or any other freely 
     elected official from Taiwan.
       Good. If the State Department won't let Lee into the 
     motherland of the First Amendment, then Congress ought to see 
     to it that he gets a visa. As for the State Department, it 
     could use some sensitivity training in good manners.
                                                                    ____

                [From the Washington Times, May 2, 1995]

                A Matter of Honors Due a Staunch Friend

                           (By James Hackett)

       After two years of insulting America's friends and allies 
     while accommodating America's enemies, the Clinton 
     Administration finally has hit bottom. The matter involves 
     Lee Teng-hui, president of the Republic of China on Taiwan, 
     who has been invited by Cornell University to receive an 
     honored alumnus award at ceremonies at Ithaca, N.Y., in early 
     June. Mr. Lee received his Ph.D. at Cornell and wants to 
     accept the honor bestowed by his alma mater.
       President Lee is a native of Taiwan and the first popularly 
     elected president of a country that long has been a close 
     friend and ally of the United States. But incredibly, the 
     State Department will not allow Mr. Lee to visit the United 
     States, even for such an unofficial purpose, lest it annoy 
     the communist rulers on the mainland.
       The State Department's China hands, with the approval of 
     the Clinton White House, are trying hard to accommodate the 
     wishes of the government in Beijing. Last year, Mr. Lee and 
     his minister for economic affairs were denied permission to 
     attend an Asian economic summit in Seattle, despite Taiwan's 
     status as an Asian economic powerhouse that buys more than 
     twice as much from the United States as mainland China.
       The worst insult to Taiwan, however, was a disgraceful 
     episode last May when Mr. Lee was denied permission to stay 
     overnight in Honolulu after his plane stopped there to 
     refuel. The State Department is following a policy of no 
     overnight stays on U.S. soil for senior Taiwan officials, 
     treatment more appropriate for criminals than for friends and 
     allies.
       In contrast, the administration is eager to please the 
     regime in Beijing, a government that continues to test 
     nuclear weapons while developing a whole new series of 
     ballistic missiles, including some that can carry nuclear 
     weapons anywhere in Asia and even across the Pacific. China 
     also is buying frontline Russian SU-27 combat aircraft, 
     Russian Kilo-class submarines, and other equipment under a 
     major military modernization program. This Chinese 
     development of power projection capabilities is a direct 
     threat to Taiwan and the other democracies of Asia.
       China's military buildup is being achieved even as the 
     communist regime continues to suppress human rights, commits 
     systematic genocide in Tibet, confronts its neighbors with 
     claims on oil deposits and islands in the South China Sea, 
     and threatens to invade Taiwan if that democracy declares its 
     independence. Yet the Clinton administration wants close 
     relations with the Chinese military and is eager to sell 
     China high-speed computers and other advanced technologies 
     that have significant military applications. Last October, 
     Mr. Clinton sent Defense Secretary William Perry to Beijing 
     to cement relations with the Chinese army, and Mr. Perry 
     wound up toasting the commanders who crushed the democracy 
     uprising.
       Policy toward Taiwan, however, continues to be shaped by 
     the Shanghai Communique that was signed before the Tiananmen 
     Square uprising, which requires the United States gradually 
     to decrease the quality and quantity of military equipment 
     sold to Taiwan. Consequently, even the F-16A/B aircraft that 
     President Bush approved for sale to Taiwan just before the 
     1992 election are the oldest models of that fighter, inferior 
     even to the model being sold to Saudi Arabia.
       As China builds up its offensive military force, the United 
     States must help Taiwan defend itself. Congress should 
     disavow the ill-considered Shanghai Communique and press Mr. 
     Clinton to sell first-line military equipment, including the 
     best available air, sea, and missile defenses, to our friends 
     on Taiwan.
       Members of Congress of both parties are increasingly 
     unhappy with Mr. Clinton's China policy and irate at the 
     treatment of Taiwan's President Lee. The House International 
     Relations Committee approved by a vote of 33-0 a resolution 
     calling on Mr. Clinton to welcome President Lee to visit 
     Cornell University, and to allow him to attend a planned 
     meeting of the U.S.-Taiwan Economic Council in Anchorage, 
     Alaska. But the administration has ignored this unanimous 
     bipartisan congressional resolution.
       If President Lee is denied permission to receive his honors 
     at Cornell, the Clinton administration's lack of principle 
     will have dragged this country to a new low. The House is 
     expected to bring this issue to a floor vote today to demand 
     prompt approval of a visa for Mr. Lee and the restoration of 
     common decency to our relations with Taiwan. The Senate 
     should quickly follow suit.
                                                                    ____

             [From the Rocky Mountain News, Apr. 19, 1995]

                       Odd Way To Reward a Friend

       Eleven months after Communist China's old tyrants loosed 
     the tanks on pro-democracy students in Tianamen Square, 
     Taiwan's new president, Lee Teng-Hui, released several 
     political prisoners--the first step in his rapid march to 
     democratizing ``the other China.'' Now guess who--the despots 
     or the democrat--is being banned from setting foot in the 
     Land of the Free. Secretary of State Warren Christopher 
     drones that to grant Lee a visa to address his alma mater, 
     Cornell University, in June would be ``inconsistent with the 
     unofficial character of our relationship'' with Taiwan. That 
     relationship dates from 1979 when Jimmy Carter severed 
     diplomatic ties with Taiwan to stroke Beijing, which views 
     the island-nation as a rebellious province. Presumably, the 
     red carpet remains out for the architects of the Tianamen 
     massacre whose sensibilities Christopher cossets.
       Not everyone is Washington abides this outrage against a 
     country making strides toward real political pluralism and 
     free-market economics. The House Committee on International 
     Relations, burying partisanship, recently voted 33-0 in moral 
     support of President Lee's visit. (The Senate Foreign 
     Relations Committee backed a similar resolution in March.) 
     With more bite, Rep. Robert Torricelli, D-N.J., has 
     introduced legislation that would compel the State Department 
     to issue visas to democratically elected Taiwanese leaders. 
     Meanwhile, Cornell president Frank Rhodes says Lee's return 
     to campus ``would offer an extraordinary educational 
     opportunity.''
       The administration's posture--stubborn pusillanimity--is 
     odd. Lee's visit clearly would not be a state-to-state 
     affair. If Communist China's leaders sulked anyway, so what? 
     How would they retaliate? Give their tank commanders 
     directions to California? Refuse to sell us the $31.5 billion 
     in goods they exported to the United States in 1994?
       Congress should reaffirm America's welcome to democracy's 
     friends by quickly passing the Torricelli bill; as for the 
     administration, its Christopher is obviously no patron saint 
     to all travelers.
                                                                    ____

                [From the Seattle Times, Feb. 11, 1995]

                         The Wrong China Policy

       President Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan has again been denied 
     entry into this country and it's time once again to ask the 
     simple question: Why?
       Lee is the democratically elected leader of the 22 million 
     Chinese on Taiwan who form an economy that is one of 
     America's most vigorous trading partners. He has a Ph.D. from 
     Cornell University in upstate New York, something one would 
     wish more foreign leaders possessed.
       Cornell wants to offer this distinguished graduate an 
     honorary degree. The Clinton administration, following the 
     policy of previous administrations, says Lee can't come back 
     to this country. The reason is that the mainland Chinese 
     would be offended.
       That policy is inexplicable. Essentially, the U.S. is 
     allowing mainland China to dictate the terms of our relations 
     with one of our best trading partners. Lee's policies and 
     economy is far more admirable than the mainland's, but we 
     keep him at arm's length. At the minimum, Lee should be 
     allowed to visit his alma mater. An official visit to 
     Washington, D.C. is not a bad idea, either.
                                                                    ____

           [From the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sept. 26, 1994]

                          Tale of Two Nations

       The Clinton administration is committing hundreds of 
     millions of dollars, and potentially the lives of many 
     American military personnel, to the ``restoration'' of 
     democracy in Haiti. If that third-rate nation's brutal 
     politicians and policemen suspend their practice of murdering 
     their critics and oppressing the populace, the United States 
     may reward the country with generous economic aid for years 
     to come. And, of course, its diplomats will continue to 
     receive invitations to White House soirees.
       Meanwhile, how does the Clinton administration reward an 
     old American ally that is democratizing by choice, that has 
     established a commendable record on human rights, that has 
     embraced the free enterprise system, and that does enough 
     business with the United States to support more than 300,000 
     American jobs? By throwing it a few crumbs and telling it to 
     keep its officials away from the White House and the State 
     Department.
       That about explains the Clinton administration's new and 
     supposedly improved policy on the Republic of China on 
     Taiwan. The President has condescendingly allowed Taiwan to 
     rename its unofficial mission here from ``The Coordination 
     Council for North American Affairs'' to ``The Taipei Economic 
     and Cultural Representative's Office in the 
      [[Page S6311]]  United States,'' which more clearly 
     described the mission's function.
       He also has removed the ban on direct contacts between 
     American economic and technical officials of non-Cabinet rank 
     and Taiwanese government officials in Taipei, but Taiwanese 
     officials stationed in the United States will not be 
     permitted to visit the State Department. And the President 
     may support Taiwan's membership in certain international 
     organizations, such as those concerned with trade, when he 
     can do so without implying diplomatic recognition of that 
     country.
       In other words, Taiwan is to remain a diplomatic pariah 
     whose president is not even permitted to land on American 
     soil long enough to play a round of golf.
       Taiwan deserves better treatment. It is the United States' 
     sixth-largest trading partner. It stood shoulder to shoulder 
     with the United States during the darkest and most dangerous 
     phases of the Cold War. It has used the United States as a 
     model in building its economic and political structures. 
     Voluntarily and enthusiastically, it is developing exactly 
     the kind of democracy that the United States advocates.
       The United States withdrew diplomatic recognition from 
     Taiwan during the Carter administration, and denies it still, 
     in an effort to cultivate the friendship of mainland 
     Communist China, which asserts sovereignty over Taiwan and 
     vows to reclaim that island someday. Taiwan is also committed 
     to eventual reunification. The two countries have developed 
     important commercial ties in recent years, but they are far 
     from agreement on the terms for merging politically into a 
     new united China.
       Strong arguments based on both principle and political 
     reality can be made against the United States' eagerness to 
     appease Communist China at the expense of an old American 
     friend. Tomorrow Senator Robb will convene a hearing of his 
     Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs to review the 
     administration's China policies. The exchange promises to be 
     vigorous.
       Democratic Senator Paul Simon of Illinois considers it 
     wrong as a matter of principle for the United States to 
     disdain a country that has ``a multi-party system, free 
     elections, and a free press--the things we profess to 
     champion--while we continue to cuddle up to the mainland 
     government whose dictatorship permits none of those.'' 
     Heritage Foundation China analyst Brett Lippencott suggests 
     that by developing closer ties to Taiwan the United States 
     could promote the reunification of China. The reason, 
     essentially, is that the failure to enhance Taiwan's 
     ``international status could weaken those in Taiwan who favor 
     eventual reunification . . . and strengthen those who seek an 
     independent Taiwan.''
       Obviously, the actual existence of two Chinas creates a 
     difficult and delicate problem for the United States. But in 
     dealing with it, our leaders should occasionally do what is 
     right instead of always doing what they think will please the 
     tyrannical rulers of the world's last remaining major 
     Communist stronghold.
                                                                    ____

             [From the Dallas Morning News, Sept. 27, 1994]

         Taiwan--Senate Should Urge Greater White House Support

       For the second consecutive year, Taiwan's bid for 
     membership in the United Nations has been thwarted. But 
     however many ``no'' votes may have been cast against Taiwan 
     at the U.N., the island democracy off the coast of mainland 
     China deserves far better treatment from the Clinton 
     administration.
       Last week's anti-Taiwan vote by the 28-member General 
     Assembly steering committee was hardly surprising. Because 
     Communist China considers Taiwan to be a ``renegade 
     province,'' China has waged an ongoing and heavy-handed 
     campaign against Taiwan since 1949.
       As relations have warmed between the United States and 
     China, U.S.-Taiwan relations have suffered. U.S. policy 
     continues to be based on the traditional formula that says, 
     ``There is only one China, and Taiwan is a part of China.'' 
     To be sure, President Clinton attempted to boost economic and 
     commercial ties with Taiwan earlier this month by calling for 
     more high-level visits. He is putting special emphasis on 
     those relating to technical and economic issues. But that's 
     insufficient.
       Today may be another milestone in the evolution of U.S.-
     Taiwan relations. The Clinton administration's new Taiwan 
     policy is scheduled to be examined by the East Asian and 
     Pacific affairs subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations 
     Committee. As Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois has pointed out, 
     the first thing the Senate should note is that Taiwan 
     features a multi-party system, free elections and a free 
     press. He's right.
       Earlier this year, President Clinton said in his State of 
     the Union message that ``the best strategy to ensure our 
     security and to build a durable peace is to support the 
     advance of democracy elsewhere.'' The East Asian and Pacific 
     affairs subcommittee chairman, Charles Robb of Virginia, 
     should recite those words in his hearing room today.
       Taiwan is the perfect place for the Clinton administration 
     to translate words into action. The way to do that is by 
     giving Taiwan greater recognition for its democratic 
     advances.
                                                                    ____

                [From the Boston Herald, Mar. 18, 1995]

                       Let Taiwan President Visit

       President Clinton's China policy (essentially, give Beijing 
     whatever it wants) is about to be challenged over his 
     snubbing of Taiwan.
       Cornell University has invited one of its graduates to 
     address an alumni reunion in June. He is Lee Teng-hui, who 
     received a doctorate in agricultural economics from Cornell 
     in 1968. He is president of the Republic of China on Taiwan.
       Since 1979, Washington has taken the position that the 
     Communist government in Beijing, one of the most repressive 
     on earth, is the exclusive representative of the Chinese 
     people. Taiwan is a democracy and one of our largest trading 
     partners.
       To placate the People's Republic, the president of Taiwan 
     isn't allowed to visit the United States, even in an 
     unofficial capacity. Last May, when Lee stopped in Honolulu 
     en route to Costa Rica, the State Department generously 
     offered to permit him to enter the airport, provided he 
     remain in quarantine. Lee chose to stay on his plane.
       Why the administration must allow Beijing to jerk its 
     strings is a mystery. The regime is not the least cooperative 
     on human rights or trade.
       Congressional Republicans are threatening to revolt. Sen. 
     Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska) has 35 co-sponsors on a resolution 
     calling on the administration to allow Lee to visit Cornell. 
     If the resolution is ignored, Murkowski is threatening to 
     reopen the issue of U.S. relations with Taiwan.
       This is a fight the president doesn't need. Beijing may 
     bluster but ultimately will do nothing. The world won't come 
     to an end if one of Cornell's more distinguished alumni 
     visits his alma mater.
                                                                    ____

                [From the Tampa Tribune, Mar. 26, 1996]

                      Why Treat Taiwan Like Dirt?

       Standing up for what you believe is not always easy in 
     international affairs, and President Clinton probably wishes 
     people wouldn't force him into areas of diplomacy where he is 
     so uncomfortable.
       But it's happening again. Pesky Cornell University is 
     inviting one of its graduates, Taiwan's President Lee Teng-
     Hui, to give a speech there in June. So President Clinton 
     must decide whether to allow the visit, sure to anger 
     mainland China, or to continue the policy of pretending 
     Taiwan's top leaders have the plague.
       Helping keep the issue in the public eye is a proposed 
     Senate resolution, sponsored by Frank Murkowski of Alaska and 
     co-sponsored by Sen. Connie Mack of Florida and 34 others.
       Each of the many ``whereas'' paragraphs in the resolution 
     contains a bit of information sure to make the President 
     twitch. Taiwan is the United States' sixth-largest trading 
     partner; it supports democracy and human rights; it has a 
     free press and free elections; its elected leaders deserve to 
     be treated with respect and dignity; and the U.S. Senate has 
     voted several times last year to welcome President Lee to the 
     United States.
       Perhaps if President Clinton were more confident in the 
     diplomatic skills of his administration, he would be less 
     cautious about putting a few old Communist tyrants in a 
     temporary huff.
                                                                    ____

                  [From the Oregonian, Feb. 24, 1995]

                      Strengthen U.S.-Taiwan Ties

       Taiwan has made remarkable efforts to do the kinds of 
     things that United States foreign policy has asked of it. The 
     Clinton administration ought to reward that effort by further 
     loosening the shackles on U.S. Taiwanese relations. It made 
     some hopeful changes last September, but badly needs to do 
     more.
       Members of both parties in Congress are dismayed--rightly 
     so--at how this country has treated Taiwan's reformist 
     President Lee Tanghui. It forbade him to stay overnight when 
     his plane landed in Hawaii for refueling last May on a trip 
     to Central America, and so far has refused permission for Lee 
     to enter the United States, even as a private citizen acting 
     in a wholly unofficial capacity, to receive an honorary 
     degree from his alma mater, Cornell University.
       The reason for that is the ``one China'' policy adopted in 
     1979, when the United States finally abandoned hope that the 
     rump Nationalist government on Taiwan would ever regain 
     control of mainland China, the communist People's Republic.
       China considers Taiwan a rogue province. By a combination 
     of bluster and threat, it has long persuaded other nations 
     and international organizations to isolate Taiwan.
       But that doesn't mean the United States shouldn't do much 
     more to strengthen its unofficial economic, political and 
     cultural ties with Taiwan pending a final resolution of the 
     Taiwan-China dispute.
       Taiwan is our fifth-largest trading partner (third-largest 
     for the Columbia-Snake River Customs District) and an 
     economic powerhouse in Asia. We ship twice as many goods to 
     the island of 20 million people as we do to the mainland.
       Taiwan has made immense progress along the road from 
     virtual dictatorship under the late Chiang Kai-shek and his 
     son, Chiang Ching-kuo, to representative democracy.
       One result has been that Lee's ruling Nationalist Party 
     faces significant opposition 
      [[Page S6312]]  not only from the populist Democratic 
     Progressive Party, which favors Taiwanese independence from 
     China, but also from a breakaway Nationalist group calling 
     itself the New Party.
       Unlike the People's Republic. Taiwan has a free press and a 
     television system that is only nominally government-
     controlled. The Taipei government tolerates an illegal cable 
     TV system that broadcast a ``democracy channel'' and news 
     from the mainland.
       Unlike the People's Republic, Taiwan has acknowledged past 
     human-rights abuses, including the Nationalist slaughter of 
     thousands of native Taiwanese in 1947, two years before 
     Chiang's forces finally lost their civil war against the 
     communists, and has made far more human-rights progress than 
     the mainland.
       Taiwan has taken more positive steps then the mainland to 
     protect U.S. intellectual property--the current sore point 
     between Washington and Beijing.
       These are exactly the combination of reforms and brisk 
     march toward democracy that the United States urges on 
     Russia, China and some Latin American nations, among others. 
     The only difference is that Taiwan is getting it done.
       That should be rewarded with closer ties to the United 
     States and U.S. help in getting Taiwan full participation in 
     the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund. 
     World Bank and other organizations that should be more 
     concerned with facts as they are than facts as China might 
     like them to be.
       And let Lee visit Cornell.

  Mr. JOHNSTON. Mr. President, I intend to offer my thoughts on House 
Concurrent Resolution 53, but before doing so, I would like to know if 
my colleague from Alaska might engage in a colloquy on a particular 
point about this resolution on which we would agree: that it is 
important to maintain a productive relationship with the People's 
Republic of China.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I would be happy to enter into a colloquy with my good 
friend from Louisiana on this point.
  Mr. JOHNSTON. I wonder if it is the Senator's intent by this 
resolution to begin a two China policy, that is to violate the terms of 
the agreement the United States made with the People's Republic of 
China in 1979 to recognize the People's Republic of China as the sole 
legal Government of China? As my colleague knows, since signing that 
agreement, the United States has maintained only unofficial relations 
with Taiwan, keeping commercial, cultural, and other relations without 
official Government representation and without diplomatic relations.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I believe this resolution is consistent with our 
agreements with the People's Republic of China and is consistent with 
the Taiwan Relations Act as well. This resolution does not, in this 
Senator's opinion, violate our one-China policy. I believe that the 
United States can allow a private visit by President Lee to his alma 
mater, Cornell University, and to a business conference in Alaska 
without compromising United States foreign policy toward the People's 
Republic of China.
  This resolution merely calls on the administration to recognize that 
President Lee should be admitted to attend private events in the United 
States to promote our friendly, albeit unofficial, ties with the 
Republic of China on Taiwan, as envisioned under the Taiwan Relations 
Act.
  Since 1979, circumstances have changed between the People's Republic 
of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan. I would direct my 
colleague's attention to the relationship that has developed between 
the People's of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan through their 
unofficial entities: the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan 
Straits in Beijing and the Mainland Affairs Council in Taiwan. The two 
sides get together and talk about everything but politics. Trade and 
investment has ballooned. It seems entirely appropriate that the United 
States should also be able to take actions to increase our trade and 
economic ties with Taiwan.
  Mr. JOHNSTON. I thank the Senator from Alaska for that clarification. 
As I know my colleague is aware, diplomacy is often a gray area, and I 
believe there can be honest disagreements over when an action crosses a 
sometimes arbitrary line. On this particular issue, the Senator from 
Alaska and I might disagree over where that line is drawn. From this 
colloquy I think we agree that it is in the interests of the United 
States to maintain the fundamental United States-People's Republic of 
China relationship.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I thank my friend from Louisiana for that colloquy.
  Mr. JOHNSTON addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.
  Mr. JOHNSTON. Mr. President, I will be very brief.
  Mr. President, even with this important clarification, I remain 
extremely concerned about how actions such as this, no matter how 
harmless they may appear, could impact the United States relationship 
with the People's Republic of China. For almost 15 years, the United 
States has remained committed to a one-China policy that includes only 
unofficial recognition of Taiwan. This commitment is backed up by 
several joint communiques issued by the United States and the People's 
Republic of China and by the Taiwan Relations Act. I am concerned about 
the ambiguities and confusion a visit by President Lee to the United 
States could raise in the eyes of the People's Republic of China. 
Although this visit would be a private one, Mr. Lee is the President of 
Taiwan, he would be staying on American soil in an official capacity, 
and the United States does have a commitment to the People's Republic 
of China to maintain only unofficial relations with Taiwan. I hesitate 
to muddy the waters and compromise our carefully crafted, delicate 
relations with the People's Republic of China by initiating vague 
policies of recognition of Taiwan's leaders, whether such visits are 
private or not. The People's Republic of China is entering a period of 
transition. Deng Xiaoping is over 90, and it is unclear who will 
succeed him as head of the Chinese Government. Now is not the time to 
look as if we were altering the United States steadfast commitment to a 
one-China policy.
  Should this resolution pass, as I expect it will, I urge the State 
Department not to follow this nonbinding resolution and not to issue a 
visa to Mr. Lee. I have the greatest respect for President Lee and this 
is in no way meant to be a personal affront to him. I have seen 
relations between the United States and Taiwan grow and improve and I 
have seen Taiwan take great strides toward democracy. In fact, this 
administration completed a comprehensive review of our policy with 
Taiwan last year and implemented a number of appropriate steps to 
further improve our relationship with Taiwan. Taiwan has held free and 
fair elections for some offices, and I hope this trend of expanding 
free and fair elections will continue in the near future, including for 
the office of the Presidency. I hope the United States will continue to 
maintain its ties with Taiwan, but these ties must remain unofficial.
  Mr. President, this is a very, very critical time for China, the 
largest nation in the world upon which the stability of all of Asia 
and, some would say, the stability of all of the world depends.
  Deng Xiaoping, their leader, is transitioning out. New leaders are 
coming in. Therefore, it is very important that the United States not 
do anything to upset what is one of the most important pillars of our 
relationship with them, which is a one-China policy.
  Now the question is, Does this violate the one-China policy?
  The Secretary of State testified before the Budget Committee in 
February that the United States has committed itself to the concept of 
one China and to having an unofficial relationship with Taiwan. He also 
stated that if the President of Taiwan ``is wanting to transit to the 
United States when he is going someplace else, that would be acceptable 
under the new arrangements. But it is regarded as being inconsistent 
with the unofficial character of our relationships with Taiwan for the 
President to visit here in what would be, in effect, an official 
capacity.'' It is my hope that, should this resolution be enacted by 
the Congress, the administration will continue to hold to this policy 
and will not issue the travel visa to President Lee. As I said earlier, 
while I have the greatest respect for the President and people of 
Taiwan, and commend them on the significant progress they have made 
toward democracy, the United States Congress should not alter over 15 
years of United States foreign policy with a single resolution. Our 
current foreign policy toward China and Taiwan brings maximum benefit 
to the United States; we have official diplomatic ties with 
 [[Page S6313]]  Beijing while maintaining trade and cultural relations 
with Taipei. We should not change a policy that continues to serve U.S. 
interests so well.
  Our Secretary of State believes this does violence to the one-China 
policy. I, therefore, would urge my colleagues to vote against this 
resolution, and I urge the Secretary of State not to issue the visa 
called for by this resolution. I stand second to no one in my affection 
and regard for Taiwan. But the way to show our regard and affection for 
Taiwan and President Lee is not by departing, however ambiguously, from 
the one-China policy.
  Mr. SIMON addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I will take only 1 minute.
  I think this is a sound resolution. I want to get along with the 
People's Republic of China, but they cannot dictate what we do. Taiwan 
has a freely elected government and a free press, all the things we say 
that we allow. The President of Taiwan wants to come over here on a 
private visit and go to his alumni meeting at Cornell University. I 
think for us to knuckle under to the People's Republic of China under 
those circumstances just goes contrary to everything we say we profess. 
I strongly support the resolution.
  Mr. HELMS addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Carolina.
  Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, this resolution has one fault: It is too 
late in coming. It has been reported out favorably by the Foreign 
Relations Committee. It is a mistake that we should have corrected a 
long time ago.
  Senator Murkowski and I, and others, have for a long time been 
protesting this travesty in the conduct of U.S. foreign relations. How 
and when did the United States reach the point in United States-
Taiwanese relations that United States foreign policy could preclude a 
visit to the United States of the highest ranking, democratically 
elected official of Taiwan?
  Though I did not often disagree with Ronald Reagan--I did on 
occasion, and one of those times was when President Reagan's advisers 
made a regrettable decision which risked jeopardizing our relations 
with Taiwan by cuddling up to the brutal dictators in Beijing. Since 
that time, we have been hiding behind a diplomatic screen when 
demonstrating our commitment and loyalty to the Taiwanese people.
  Mr. President, at the time President Reagan's advisers made that 
grievous error, Congress was promised that the United States would 
continue to ``preserve and promote extensive, close and friendly * * * 
relations'' with the people on Taiwan. But successive administrations 
have not lived up to that promise. How in the world could any one 
consider it close and friendly to require the President of Taiwan to 
sit in his plane on a runway in Honolulu while it was refueled? I find 
it hard to imagine that United States relations with Red China would 
have come to a standstill because of a weekend visit to the United 
States by Taiwan's President Lee.
  The President's China policy is in poor shape at this point--even 
members of his team recognize that. So, how can anyone really believe 
that allowing President Lee to travel to his alma mater--or to vacation 
in North Carolina--would send our already precarious relations with Red 
China plummeting over the edge?
  Last time I checked, the Mainland Chinese were obviously enjoying 
their relations with the United States--a small wonder since they are 
benefiting $30 billion a year from the American taxpayer as a result of 
United States trade with Red China.
  Time and again, the U.S. Congress has urged the administration to 
grant President Lee a visa. We have amended our immigration law so that 
it now specifically mentions the President of Taiwan. Congress has 
passed resolution after resolution encouraging the President to allow 
President Lee into the United States for a visit. All to no avail.
  But today the delay is over. I hope I will have the privilege of 
being one of the first to welcome the distinguished President of the 
Republic of China on Taiwan. He deserves a warm welcome from all of us.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from West Virginia.
  Mr. ROCKEFELLER. Mr. President, I strongly hope that the concurrent 
resolution will be agreed to. The President of Taiwan has studied and 
taught at Cornell, as well as Iowa State. This is a single visit. It 
fits within the guidelines of the policy review carried out by the 
White House and the National Security Council. It is a resolution which 
should get an ``aye'' vote.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I ask unanimous consent that Senator Nickles be added 
as the 54th bipartisan cosponsor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, I rise this morning as the chairman of the 
Senate Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs to join in the 
sentiments expressed by my colleague, Senator Murkowski, on Taiwan, and 
in particular on the visit of President Lee.
  I need not repeat in detail for the Senate Taiwan's many 
accomplishments, either economic or political; these have often been 
discussed on the Senate floor. It is sufficient to note that this 
country is our fifth largest trading partner, and imports over 17 
billion dollars worth of U.S. products annually. More importantly, 
though, Taiwan is a model emerging democracy in a region of the world 
not particularly noted for its long democratic tradition.
  The Taiwanese Government has ended martial law, removed restrictions 
on freedom of the press, legalized the opposition parties, and 
instituted electoral reforms which last December resulted in free 
elections. Taiwan is one of our staunchest friends; I think every 
Member of this body recognizes that, and accords Taiwan a special place 
among our allies. Unfortunately, Mr. President, the administration 
apparently does not share our views. Rather, the administration goes 
out of its way to shun the Republic of China on Taiwan almost as though 
it were a pariah state like Libya or Iran. Sadly, the administration's 
shoddy treatment of Taiwan is based not on that country's faults or 
misdeeds, but on the dictates of another country: the People's Republic 
of China.
  It is because the People's Republic of China continues to claim that 
it is the sole legitimate Government of Taiwan, and because of the 
administration's almost slavish desire to avoid upsetting that view, 
that the State Department regularly kowtows to Beijing and maltreats 
the Government of Taiwan.
  The administration refuses to allow the President of Taiwan to enter 
this country, even for a private visit. A private visit, Mr. President. 
President Lee is a graduate of Cornell University, where he earned his 
Ph.D. He has expressed an interest in attending a class reunion at his 
alma mater this June, and a United States-Taiwan Economic Council 
Conference. Yet the administration has made clear that it will not 
permit him entry.
  Mr. President, the only people that this country systematically 
excludes from entry to its shores are felons, war criminals, 
terrorists, and individuals with dangerous communicable diseases. How 
is it possible that the administration can see fit to add the President 
of Asia's oldest republic to this list? We have allowed representatives 
of the PLO and Sinn Fein to enter the country, yet we exclude a visit 
by an upstanding private citizen?
  Mr. President, I think we have made clear to Beijing--I know I have 
tried to--the great importance to us of our strong relationship with 
that country. This relationship should, in my opinion, transcend 
squabbles over diplomatic minutiae. I will always seek to avoid any 
move that the Government of the People's Republic of China reasonably 
could find objectionable. I believe that countries like ours should try 
hard to accommodate each others' needs and concerns, in order to 
further strengthen our relationship.
  However, I believe that the People's Republic of China needs to 
recognize the reality of this situation. Both Taiwan and the People's 
Republic of China are strong, economically vibrant entities. Both share 
a common heritage and common culture, yet have chosen political systems 
that are mutually exclusive. And despite these differences, the United 
States has a strong and important relationship with both.
   [[Page S6314]] I strongly believe that it is the Chinese who must 
work out their differences among themselves, without resort to or 
interference by outside forces. While I am sure that a solution will 
come eventually, it is liable to take a number of years. In the 
meantime, it does no good to continually place the United States in the 
unproductive position of having to walk a tightrope between the two, of 
continually having to choose sides.
  Mr. President, our Taiwanese friends have been very understanding 
about our relationship with the People's Republic of China. I would 
hope that our friends in Beijing would be equally respectful of our 
relationship with Taipei. I fully support the concurrent resolution.
  Mr. SIMPSON. Mr. President, I rise today in support of the concurrent 
resolution offered by Senator Murkowski, which I am pleased to 
cosponsor.
  This, very simply, would state the sense of the Senate that we should 
remove existing restrictions on the right of President Lee Teng-hui, of 
the Republic of China on Taiwan, to travel to the United States. As my 
colleagues have already heard, the President of Taiwan wishes to come 
here to visit his alma mater, Cornell University. However, he cannot, 
because existing U.S. policy prevents him from staying here overnight.
  It is certainly no secret to my colleagues that a principal reason 
for this restriction is the particular sensitivity of the Mainland 
Chinese Government to how the United States deals with and treats the 
Taiwanese. I would simply say that I speak as someone who has--and 
will--stoutly defended the United States-China relationship, even when 
Mainland China was under attack here in the United States for alleged 
human rights transgressions. I have consistently argued that the best 
policy toward China is one of mutual exchange and respect, of 
cooperation in trade, environmental work, population issues, and all 
else. So I do not believe that I can fairly be accused of being 
heedless of the very real and delicate sensitivities that the Chinese 
might display regarding this matter.
  However, I believe that it is possible--indeed, imperative--that we 
be open in our dealings with Mainland China and with Taiwan 
simultaneously. We must not insult the one in order to please the 
other. Indeed, even China and Taiwan are coming to increasingly 
recognize the foolishness of their mutual antagonism of the last 
several decades. It is still a sensitive and difficult problem for each 
government, but ``behind the scenes,'' we are seeing more travel across 
the Taiwan Strait, more investment, more economic and cultural 
exchange. That relationship is beginning, however slowly, to change.
  In any case, there are limits to how much we should rebuff the 
Taiwanese in order to preserve our relationship with Beijing. We should 
strive to trade with the Chinese, to cooperate with them on a large 
number of issues, but not to refuse to participate in relationships 
that are beneficial and proper for the United States. One of these is 
with the Republic of China on Taiwan.
  Mr. President, I have always been one who has argued that there is a 
vital stake in old foes coming together to hammer out their ancient 
differences and eternal conflicts. I believe that backchannel contacts 
were indispensable to bringing about the possibility for expanded, 
public talks to bring about peace in the Middle East and in Ireland. So 
I have not publicly criticized the administration for its dealings with 
Yasir Arafat, or with Gerry Adams, or any of a number of at times even 
justifiable blameworthy international figures.
  But it does strike me as very odd that we can reach out so much to 
individuals who have previously engaged in fully criminal conduct, yet 
we cannot even allow one of our true friends, the President of Taiwan, 
to come to the United States for a private--I stress, private--visit.
  And he is indeed a friend to the United States--his administration 
has made it far easier for the United States to pursue a desirable 
economic relationship with Taiwan without sacrificing any of our 
principles on human rights. Taiwan has recently enjoyed the freest and 
fairest elections in its history. There is unprecedented political 
competition, and public debate, and fully indulged criticism of the 
Government, in that country. It is not an American-style democracy by 
any stretch. But the progress has been quite remarkable.
  What we have here is a policy of punishment for precisely the type of 
behavior which we would hope to see in our oversees counterparts. 
President Lee has not only worked to make the United States-Taiwan 
relationship less troublesome, but even has exerted energy to lessen 
strains in the Taiwan-China relationship as well. That takes genuine 
political courage.
  So I congratulate my fine friend the Senator from Alaska, Frank 
Murkowski, for bringing this matter to the attention of the Senate, and 
I pledge to him my full support in this and future efforts to repair 
and resolve this situation.
  Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I rise in support of this concurrent 
resolution.
  The concurrent resolution offered by the Senator from Alaska is, in 
essence, a statement of a basic American principle: free association, 
or our right to meet and speak with whomever we choose. It is strictly 
limited to this issue, and raises no fundamental questions of China 
policy.
  This resolution welcomes the visit of President Lee Teng-hui of 
Taiwan, as a private citizen, to attend the United States-Republic of 
China Business Council conference in Alaska, and give a speech at 
Cornell University. These activities would in no way violate any of our 
commitments to China, and would make sure we give President Lee the 
respect he has earned as one of Asia's great democrats.
  The principal objection to this resolution is the claim that it would 
violated American commitments to the Chinese Government. Let me review 
precisely what these commitments are. In 1972, 1979, and 1982, we 
signed a series of three communiques with the People's Republic of 
China. In the last of these, to quote the text:

       The two sides agreed that the people of the United States 
     would continue to maintain cultural, commercial, and other 
     unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.

  I believe we should keep our promises. We have made commitments to 
China to maintain a one-China policy and keep our relationship with 
Taiwan on an unofficial basis. And as long as China keeps its side of 
the bargain--to ``strive for a peaceful resolution'' to its differences 
with Taiwan--we should keep ours.
  But the text of the communique is very clear. It says that our 
relationship will be unofficial. What is does not say is equally clear. 
That is, neither the 1982 communique nor the other two make any 
commitment whatsoever which Chinese citizens shall be eligible for 
visas. Thus, I am convinced that the proposed visit by President Lee as 
a private citizen would fall entirely within the framework of 
``cultural, commercial and other unofficial relations.''
  Once again, this concurrent resolution, rightly construed, does not 
bear on China policy at all. It is simply as statement of our right as 
Americans to meet and speak with whom we choose; and of our respect and 
friendship for President Lee personally and the people of Taiwan in 
general. I support it and hope my colleagues will do likewise.
  Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, could I just make an announcement? The 
Budget Committee intended to go back to mark up and vote after the two 
votes. I would like to tell them all we are going to go back to 
committee and have two votes, one after another. I hope they will all 
come. No proxy votes allowed.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the concurrent 
resolution. The yeas and nays have been ordered. The clerk will call 
the roll.
  Mr. LOTT. I announce that the Senator from Virginia [Mr. Warner] is 
necessarily absent.
  Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from New York [Mr. Moynihan] is 
necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
who desire to vote?
   [[Page S6315]] The result was announced--yeas 97, nays 1, as 
follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 157 Leg.]

                                YEAS--97

     Abraham
     Akaka
     Ashcroft
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Bradley
     Breaux
     Brown
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Coats
     Cochran
     Cohen
     Conrad
     Coverdell
     Craig
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Exon
     Faircloth
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Frist
     Glenn
     Gorton
     Graham
     Gramm
     Grams
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hatfield
     Heflin
     Helms
     Hollings
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Kassebaum
     Kempthorne
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lott
     Lugar
     Mack
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Moseley-Braun
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nickles
     Nunn
     Packwood
     Pell
     Pressler
     Pryor
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Shelby
     Simon
     Simpson
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond
     Wellstone

                                NAYS--1

       
     Johnston
       

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Moynihan
     Warner
       
  So the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 53) was agreed to.
  Mr. DOLE. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. MURKOWSKI. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

                          ____________________
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