Wed, Jun 04, 2003 page3

• DeLay blasts US' China policy

  FROM THE HIP The US House majority leader said that as long as Taiwan was willing to defend itself and uphold the principles of democracy, the US should offer its protection

  • By Charles Snyder / STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  In a speech broadly critical of the continuation of Washington's one-China policy, US House majority leader Tom DeLay has called the possibility of a Chinese takeover of Taiwan "inconceivable" and strongly linked Taiwan's security to the security of the US and the Pacific region.

  DeLay delivered the keynote address to a half-day conference at the American Enterprise Institute on the prospects for a US-Taiwan free trade agreement (FTA), but went far beyond the FTA issue to deliver a ringing denunciation of the one-China policy that has governed US policy since Washington switched diplomatic relations from Taipei to Beijing at the end of 1978.

  His comments came one day after US President George W. Bush, in a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), reaffirmed Washington's "one China" policy.

  "The president repeated our policy of a `one China' policy based on the three communiques, the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and no support for Taiwan's independence," a senior administration official told reporters in Evian, France, after the Bush-Hu meeting on the sidelines of the G8 meeting. "The president said we don't support independence," the official said.

  The Chinese, "basically accepted that, and said, okay, that's positive," the official said. He quoted Bush as saying "in that context, if necessary, we will help Taiwan to the extent possible to defend itself" by providing defensive weapons as called for in the TRA.

  DeLay called the "one-China" policy a "diplomatic contrivance" which over the years has been elevated by some to the status of "doctrine."

  "Some have wanted to transform this diplomatic nuance into a recognition of Beijing's territorial claim over Taiwan: a recognition that has not and never will exist," DeLay said.

  Some people, he said, "believe America's primary objective in Asia is the preservation of the `one China' policy, but the `one China' policy like the peace process in the Middle East is a means to an end, not the end itself."

  "Luckily, we now have a president who understands the foreign policy of a great nation must be a rock of moral and political clarity, not a pillow of diplomatic pretensions," DeLay said.

  Using terms to describe China as a "backward, corrupt anachronism run by decrepit tyrants, and its leaders as "oppressive and dangerous men" with a "murderous ideology," DeLay said that "the proposition of a communist takeover of Taiwan should be inconceivable."

  "To refuse to say so, for fear of upsetting Beijing, is not tact: it is infantilism," DeLay told the crowd of some 200 Washington insiders and China specialists, including Chairwoman of the American Institute in Taiwan and Taiwan's de-facto ambassador Therese Shaheen and Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office chief Chen Chien-jen (程建人).

  Noting that Bush has said the US would do "whatever it took" to help Taiwan defend itself, DeLay said, "as long as a free and democratic Taiwan, willing to defend itself, needs help securing its borders we will be there."

  DeLay said that Washington's commitment to a democratic Taiwan fits in with the Bush administration's policy of promoting democracy and freedom in the world and said the US must expand its relationships with Taiwan and other democracies in the region.

  "An economically robust and militarily secure Taiwan is essential to the security of the US and the Pacific Rim," he said, calling Taiwan "an economic and political ally of the US."

  On Taiwan's prospects for a free trade agreement, DeLay pledged to press US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to place Taiwan on a higher place in the queue of countries awaiting negotiations on an agreement.

  He also pledged early action on a resolution introduced in the House on March 18 expressing the "sense of Congress" that Zoellick's office should enter into FTA talks with Taiwan.

  Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue (章啟月) yesterday pointedly ignored DeLay's remarks.

  "It would be better for a US government spokesperson to explain," said Zhang in a press conference when asked by reporters to comment on DeLay's statements.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Central bank announces banknote redesign plans

  • 2

    Japan deploys long-range missiles close to China

  • 3

    CDC reports COVID-19 variant case

  • 4

    KMT chair accepts trip invite from Xi Jinping

  • 5

    New streamlined Taiwan Pass to go on sale today