TT: So you decided to rework it?
Feldman: We decided there had to be more to it -- the arms sales and a bunch of other stuff. And that became the Taiwan Omnibus Act. And then it went to Congress, and they added the preamble, the Findings and Declarations of Policy, and they added the business about strengthening arms sales and the fact that this was to be done solely on the basis of Taiwanese needs, not discussion with the PRC -- something that several administrations have violated.
The sentence that Lee Marks and I added, of which we are very proud, is, "Whenever authorized or pursuant to the laws of the United States to conduct and carry out programs, transactions or other relations with respect to foreign countries, nation states, governments or similar entities, the president or any agency of the United States government is authorized to conduct and carry out ... such programs, transactions and other relations with respect to Taiwan." That may be the most creative thing we did. That, and the AIT.
TT: If you had to go back and redo it, is there anything you would have done differently, or written differently, or is there any way that you would have reacted differently to what Congress added?
Feldman: You have to remember that this was a document of the time. And, although Congress was very angry that they had not been consulted, nevertheless, they were strongly in favor of having a diplomatic relationship with the PRC.
Their point was that they did not want it to be at the expense of the diplomatic relationship with Taiwan. So, at the time, this was very rough stuff. The PRC said it did not accept this. They threatened that if Carter did not veto the bill, they might never establish relationships at all.
And Carter threatened to veto it. He said the language had to be changed. But the votes were there, despite Carter's bluff, there was no way he could veto it, because it would be overridden, and that would make him look doubly stupid.
TT: Now, with a democracy in Taiwan, and with what was an opposition party now being the government, do these recent developments in Taiwan call for any changes in the act to reflect the new political realities?
Feldman: No, I don't think so. I don't think the act requires any change at all. The next step would be to accord diplomatic recognition to Taiwan.
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