Thu, Jan 15, 2004 page3

• US lawmaker slams Bush policy

  STANDING UP FOR TAIWAN The US congressman was one of a number of foreign lawmakers attending a conference here to support the `defensive referendum'

  • By Chang Yun-ping / STAFF REPORTER
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  US Congressman Robert Wexler, also the co-chair of the Congress-ional Taiwan Caucus, yesterday voiced strong support for the "defensive referendum" planned by the Taiwanese government and urged the world to help Taiwan join the World Health Organization (WHO).

  Wexler, a member of the US House of Representatives, said in a keynote speech at the 1st Annual Convention of the International Parliamentary Forum for Asia-Pacific Security held in Taipei yesterday that as Beijing continues its belligerent build-up of missiles across the Taiwan Strait, it is critical for the US to renew its commitment to Taiwan's security and defense.

  Wexler said the increased cooperation between the US and China in the war against terror and in negotiations with North Korea should not come at the expense of US relations with Taiwan.

  

  US Representative Robert Wexler gives a keynote speech at the two-day International Parliamentary Forum for Asia-Pacific Security conference at Taipei's Grand Hotel yesterday.

  PHOTO: AP

  He said the George W. Bush administration's recent kowtowing to Beijing in opposing a defensive referendum in Taiwan had compromised its moral authority to lead, while the US remains mute over the military excesses of China's authoritarian regime.

  "In the past month, many have questioned Washington's recent failure to acknowledge the military threat from Beijing while vocally opposing a defensive referendum in Taiwan," Wexler said. "This policy stands in stark contradiction to the Bush administration's stated policy of advancing democracy throughout the world.

  "The very suggestion that an exercise of democracy is a greater provocation than that posed by 496 missiles emanating from the People's Republic of China is an absurd policy that violates the core principles of the US," Wexler told a luncheon gathering of more than 150 parliamentary members from 50 countries.

  "America must now reaffirm the importance of our bilateral ties with Taiwan and applaud its strong system of governance that promotes freedom and protects the rule of law. Rather than pay homage to the rigidity of the Chinese system, we should highlight Taiwan's democratic evolution because it serves as a highly successful model for political liberalization throughout the world," he said.

  Wexler also voiced keen support for Taiwan's bid to join international organizations, particularly the WHO.

  "It is unconscionable that 23 million Taiwanese people have been excluded from receiving the benefits of membership status in the WHO ... impairing its crisis response teams and creating a wall of separation between Taiwan and the global health care community," he said.

  "Healthcare is an issue that transcends borders and politics and is addressed most effectively through international cooperation and collaborative support. This is why we must renew our conviction to assist Taiwan in its effort to obtain observer status at the World Health Assembly this May," Wexler said.

  Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday addressed the opening ceremony of the convention, saying the threat of communist, authoritarian China to democratic, peace-loving Taiwan was a matter of "the bullet versus the ballot."

  She described China as a ferocious lion and Taiwan as a "kitty cat" to demonstrate the relationship between China and Taiwan.

  "Imagine what results will come if the kitty cat is forced into the arms of the lion? The consequence of that must be bloody. Only when the lion is caged and dealt with [according to] the rules of the zoo can other small animals such as doves, rabbits and kitties live peacefully together," Lu said.

  Lu also said Beijing's suppression of Taiwan's democracy and intention to annex Taiwan were aimed at the ultimate goal of building a "Chinese kingdom," turning itself from a continental hegemony to a sea power through its control over the Taiwan Strait.

  She said China's 496 missiles aimed at Taiwan could reach Taiwan proper within seven minutes and could carry nuclear warheads.

  Given that every day more than 400 foreign cargo ships pass through the Taiwan Strait and more than 350 planes fly through Taiwan's airspace, China's threat to international stability and economic prosperity is obvious, Lu said.

  Other visiting members of parliament from around the world yesterday also expressed support for Taiwan's plans to hold a defensive referendum.

  Thomas Cox, a British MP and chief of the UK's delegation, said yesterday: "It is not Taiwan, or any of the policies it follows, that threaten the PRC. The policies of the PRC threaten this country [Taiwan]. The referendum will give the Taiwanese people the democratic choice to vote as they wish. That is democracy. And we should all fully support that."

  Norwegian MP Trond Helleland urged his European colleagues to support a democratic Taiwan in the face of China's threats.

  "Small nations believing in democracy should stand up and say no to dictatorship. European nations should recognize Taiwan. What comes first? Democracy should come before dictatorship," Helleland said.

  The two-day convention, which started on Tuesday night and ended yesterday, was sponsored by the Legislative Yuan, the Taiwan-USA Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association, the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs and the Taipei-based Formosa Foundation.
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