Congress members laud friendship with Taiwan

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, de facto Taiwanese ambassador in Washington David Lee and Congresswoman Shelly Berkley, from left to right, take turns speaking at a reception celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus in Washington yesterday. PHOTO: CNA

More two dozen members of the US Congress paid tribute to Taiwan on Tuesday as the 143-member Congressional Taiwan Caucus celebrated its fifth anniversary at a reception on Capitol Hill marked by calls for solidarity between the two nations and praise for Taiwan's emerging democracy.

Some members of Congress attended the reception, eclipsing the record of 25 who came to a reception honoring former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in 2005, showed an unofficial tally by the congressional lobbying group, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs, and the officials of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, which organized the event.

Speakers House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Lantos and Democratic National Committee vice chair Lottie Shackelford.

"What a joy it is to celebrate yet again the friendship between the United States and Taiwan," Lantos said in brief remarks.

Recalling first visit to Taiwan many years ago when it was a "desperately poor autocratic society," Lantos said, "the most wonderful experience was this poor authoritarianism transformed into a prosperous political democracy. The Taiwan miracle is one of the great achievements of the last few decades."

Caucus Steve Chabot of Ohio, who will visit Taiwan in two weeks, called Taiwan "a very strong ally of the United States. It is a thriving democracy and I think it ought to be a role model for many other countries on how to do it right."

Nevada Shelley Berkley was introduced as the new co-chair of the bipartisan caucus, replacing Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who last year was elected to the Senate. The caucus has two Republican and two Democratic co-chairs.

Berkley praised Taiwan's democracy and strength as a trade partner.

In an interview with the Taipei Times, Berkley outlined a large list of pro-Taiwan legislation she wishes to promote.

"There are a number of issues we can take care of rather easily and others that are a bit more challenging," she said.

US visits

Among other things, Berkley will seek to promote visits to Washington and other places by high-level Taiwanese officials.

"China recently objected to the president of Taiwan's transit and created quite a difficult situation for the travel of the president of Taiwan. I would like to pass a resolution that eliminates that problem, and allows government officials from Taiwan to come to the United States and travel freely," she said.

A free trade agreement would be "a very important step forward. I'd like to see that included," she said.

"In addition to that is the World Health Organization. It is incomprehensible to me that Taiwan would not be part of the World Health Organization. You cannot ignore 30 million [sic] people and pretend that they don't exist," she said.

Taiwan's facto ambassador in Washington, David Lee (李大維), thanked the representatives for their support.

"Without formal diplomatic relations, sometimes we do need the support and help of the legislative branch," he said.

"Congressional support has always been crucial and important to our bilateral relationship," he said.