Letters:

The US and `one China'

Cao Chang-ching's objections to President-elect Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) wandering away from Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) "state-to-state" position are completely justified ("Has Chen already failed `one China' test?" May 5, Page 13). In particular, his statement that "`one China' and dragons are both imaginary" prompts me to note another misconception -- the imaginary "one China policy" Beijing ascribes to the US.

Since the 1972 Shanghai Communique, China has misled the world that the US' "one China" policy is: "There is but one China and Taiwan is part of China." The deliberate confusion was created by continual misinterpretations of the word "acknowledge," which was confused with "recognize." As a result, the US position of: "we acknowledge the fact that you are both saying the same thing" was mistaken for "we recognize that what you say is also what we believe."

Reflecting on the reality of the "special state-to-state" relationship, the US Congress last July passed Resolution 166, expressing the sense of the Congress that the adoption a "one China, one Taiwan policy," with the following reasoning: "Whereas the United States `one China policy' was rendered obsolete by Taiwan's policy shift and no longer reflects reality, for the Taiwan side of the Taiwan Strait has now effectively stated that it no longer holds the belief that Taiwan is part of China."

Taitzer Wang

Cincinnati, Ohio

28 years of `two states' Few have noticed that Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) "two states" statement has actually been implemented by the US government for the past 28 years. In the 1972 Shanghai Communique, the Chinese side reaffirmed its position by saying: "[t]he Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of China ... The Chinese Government firmly opposes any activities which aim at the creation of `one China, one Taiwan,' `one China, two governments,' `two Chinas,' an `independent Taiwan' or advocate that the status of Taiwan remains to be determined." The US side declared: "[t]he United States `acknowledges' that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States Government does not challenge that position." At the time the Shanghai Communique was released, the US officially recognized the Republic of China as the "sole legal government" of the whole of China. However, in the communique, it "acknowledges" and does not "challenge" that the People's Republic of China is the "sole legal government" of China. By combining these two facts, we can see that the communique is the original source of "two Chinas." Taiwan's President-elect should utilize "their communique" to support "our two states." Lloyd Sheng-pao Fan
Brisbane, Australia