An up and coming congressman with a particular interest in Taiwan's welfare has added his weight to those in Washington who feel that the US should make it clear that it will come to Taiwan's defense if China attacks.
Ohio Republican Steve Chabot, a member of the House of Representatives who is also a co-chairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, made his comments in a speech to an Asia Society breakfast in Washington, where he reported on a recent trip to China and South Korea that he took with 12 other members of Congress.
"I think it is good to let China know that if they act [against Taiwan], we're going to be there for Taiwan, and if they don't act, there will not be hostilities," said Chabot, who is a member of the House International Relations Committee and its East Asia and Pacific subcommittee.
"President [George W.] Bush mentioned in a straightforward manner that we would be there for Taiwan if hostilities occurred, more clearly than probably [any administration] prior to that. And I agree with him," the congressman said.
The trip was Chabot's first visit to China and from all appearances it was an eye-opener for him.
"Taiwan came up regularly during the trip," he noted, especially when the US group visited China's National Defense University. "It was one of the first things that came up" in his group's discussions with the Chinese, he said.
"Taiwan is still an area of considerable disagreement between this nation and China, and we reiterated that we agree with the `one China' policy, but it is something that will have to be accomplished peacefully and not through hostilities," he said.
"I think the biggest danger in China-US relations is Taiwan. If China thinks that we wouldn't act, if they took action toward Taiwan, if they misread the United States' commitment to Taiwan, I think that is the greatest danger," he said.
Chabot spent some time before his trip, in intelligence briefings with the Central Intelligence Agency and other US intelligence services, and based much of his opinions on what he learned in those briefings.
"I don't think that Taiwan is going to be at all interested in reuniting with China if the Chinese government stays as it is currently constituted. I think it is going to take a more free political environment in the People's Republic before that reunification occurs, if in fact it does," he said.
Chabot expressed the expectation that cross-strait relations can be resolved peacefully through diplomacy.
"Taiwan continues to be an area of potential animosity and hostility. In the future, I certainly hope that it doesn't come to that. I don't anticipate that it will. I think it will be resolved diplomatically at some point," he told the audience.
Chabot said that the membership of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus has risen to 106, nearly one quarter of the total membership of the House of Representatives. The caucus aims to be the voice of Taiwan in Congress, and has already lent its voice to efforts to promote Taiwan's observer status in the World Health Organization and in expressing concern over Bush administration statements unfavorable to Taiwan.
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