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US politicians ask Bush to lean on Hu

On the eve of Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) meeting with US President George W. Bush, US congressional leaders delivered a statement to Bush calling on him to request that Hu remove missiles targeting Taiwan.

The statement came in the wake of a recent letter submitted to WHO Director-General Jong Wook-lee on behalf of 14 US senators, expressing support for Taiwan's bid for observer status in the organization.

The House of Representatives' Congressional Taiwan Caucus co-founders, Republicans Dana Rohrabacher and Steve Chabot, along with Democrat Sherrod Brown, and 12 other US representatives collectively called on Bush in their statement on Monday to request that Hu also initiate dialogue with the elected government of Taiwan without setting any preconditions.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid also delivered a strongly-worded letter to Bush on Monday asking him to press Hu to follow through with his adminstration's emphasis on China's "peaceful rise," committing to a peaceful solution to the cross-strait problem and lessening cross-strait tensions. Additionally, the letter criticized Bush's handling of China-related matters, especially regarding the US-China trade deficit and China's currency.

With regard to China's lack of intellectual property rights protection and implementation of its WTO commitments, as well as restrictions on religion and human rights problems, Reid censured the Bush administration for not doing enough to compel China to effectively address these issues.

On April 12, Senate Taiwan Caucus co-founders Republican George Allen and Democrat Tim Johnson, along with the chairman of Senate Committee on Foreign Relations , Richard Lugar, and 14 other senators in both parties submitted a letter to the WHO requesting that it grant observer status to Taiwan so that the country could participate in the global fight against the avian flu virus and benefit from the support and services offered to regular WHO members.

A US official said that these developments clearly show that Taiwan still enjoys a lot of support on Capitol Hill, and that as congressional elections approach, China will be drawing more and more fire from US lawmakers.

If Hu is unable to offer tangible results in his commitments to the US following his visit, Congress is likely to take an even more hardline approach to China, the official said.

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