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US lawmakers seek China policy review

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiang Chao-yi and the head of a pan-green camp legislative delegation visiting Washington, center, accompanied by DPP legislators Huang Wei-tze, left, and Huang Shih-cho, right, holds a press conference yesterday in the legislature after returning from a six-day trip to the US. Chiang said that certain US government officials regard Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun's recent China visit as inappropriate. PHOTO: WANG YI-SOONG

US congressmen have launched a signature drive urging US President George W. Bush to review the longstanding "one China" policy, a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker said yesterday.

"While China has become the US government's biggest enemy after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union, many US congressmen have been wondering whether the `one China' policy makes sense any more and whether it is necessary to re-examine, or even better yet, revise it to a `one China, one Taiwan' policy," DPP Legislator Chiang Chao-yi (江昭儀) said.

He was quoting US congressmen, who are members of the pro-Taiwan sub-group in the US Congress -- the Taiwan Caucus.

Chiang made the remark yesterday morning in the legislature after returning from his six-day trip to the US, where he met with think tank experts, congressmen and officials from the National Security Council, Department of Defense and State Department, including Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Randall Shriver.

According to Chiang, Shriver told the 10-person visiting group during a breakfast meeting last Monday that the US will deal with contingencies in the Taiwan Strait in compliance with the Taiwan Relations Act.

Shriver also told the group that China is not as strong as it seems but rather weak, because Beijing had sent officials to Washington twice before the "Anti-Secession" Law was adopted on March 14 in an attempt to convince the US of its validity.

In addition to warning Beijing about the consequences of enacting the law, Chiang said that the US government has made it very clear that such legislation would be unhelpful and a step in the wrong direction.

Delegation members were also present at a hearing in the House International Relations Committee last Wednesday, when Shriver addressed the passage of the "Anti-Secession" Law and its impact on cross-strait and US-China relations.

During the hearing, Chiang said, Shriver outlined the US government's efforts to let Beijing know their views of the legislation.

The efforts included the meeting between former deputy secretary Richard Armitage and director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) in January. Chen was in Washington to convey China's intention to pass the "anti-secession" act.

In a February visit to Beijing, National Security Council Senior Director for Asian Affairs Michael Green told Chinese leaders that passage of the legislation would undermine cross-strait stability.

The US ambassador to Beijing also urged China not to pass the legislation on the eve of the ratification vote by the National People's Congress, Chiang quoted Shriver as saying.

After talking with members of the US National Security Council, members of congress and think tank experts, Chiang said that most of them agreed that Beijing eventually opted to ignore the US warnings and forge ahead with the enactment of the controversial law because it was under a tremendous amount of pressure at home.

"In the face of rampant corruption, the huge gap between the rich and the poor as well as Chinese people's increasing distrust of the Chinese Communist Party, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) is forced to take a tough position on the Taiwan issue in order to win the support of the People's Liberation Army, from who he does not enjoy as much backing as his predecessors," Chiang said.

When asked to comment on Chinese National Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kun's (江丙坤) recent trip to China, US officials told the visiting group that they welcomed any cross-strait talk conducted in a formal manner. Congressmen and think tank experts, however, criticized Chiang Pin-kun's move as "unwise," Chiang Chao-yi said.

"They think that the KMT puts its own future at stake and runs counter to the will of the Taiwanese people, because more than 90 percent of the people of Taiwan are opposed to the Anti-Secession Law," heg said.

"They also think that what the KMT is doing is unbelievable, because it used to educate the public about the evils of communism during its 50-year reign, but now they, as an opposition party, are sucking up to the CCP," he said.
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