US lawmaker seeks to clarify different `one China' stances

In response to a Chinese embassy official's letter on "one China," US Representative Sherrod Brown has urged Chinese officials "not to confuse the subtlety of our US `one China' policy with the absoluteness of their government's `one China' principle."

Xie Feng (謝鋒), press counselor and spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, wrote in the letter, which was published by The Washington Post Dec. 16, that, "The `one China' principle is an established fact and has been respected and accepted by the international community, including the US."

In a letter sent to the Post on Dec. 18, Congressman Brown confessed his own concern about this question and noted that he had thus sought clarification from the State Department in 1999.

Brown wrote that the State Department responded as follows: "The PRC government and the Taiwan authorities have their own `one China' policies. How specifically to define the `one China' principle and how concretely to realize it are best left to the two sides of the [Taiwan] Strait on a mutually acceptable basis. We are willing to support any outcome voluntarily agreed to by both sides of the Taiwan Strait."

"In short," the congressman said, "our `one China' describes neither the PRC nor Taiwan. This China will be whatever both sides agree on in a peaceful, mutually acceptable manner. Further, this future entity, if it is to come into being, must have, because Taiwan is a democracy, the consent of the people of Taiwan .... Our US `one China' policy is an `established fact;' the PRC's `one China' principle is not."