Aiming at giving Taiwan issues more of a hearing in the US Congress, 10 senators announced the formation of a Senate Taiwan Caucus on Wednesday, joining more than 100 members of the House of Representatives who formed a parallel group last year.
The caucus was initiated at a reception in the US Capitol building attended by a six-member delegation of Taiwanese legislators who are in Washington as part of a Taiwan-US Parliamentary Amity Association visit, and dozens of Taiwan's US friends.
"We today recommit ourselves to ensuring the people of Taiwan are able to defend themselves. Taiwan must continue to be a land of free people," said Senator George Allen, a Republican and one of the two co-chairmen of the caucus.
The Senate caucus joins the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, which was formed in April last year, and which has grown to 121 members, with several new members this week, according to the office of Democrat Representative Robert Wexler, a co-chairman.
That gives it a membership of more than a quarter of the entire House, and makes it the second biggest foreign-affairs caucus after the India caucus, a Wexler aide said.
The formation of the Senate caucus is itself unusual, given the reluctance of senators to join such groupings, especially those involving foreign affairs.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) sent a congratulatory letter to the caucus, saying, "The launch of the Senate Taiwan Caucus with strong bipartisan support is a reflection of the importance of the relationship between Taiwan and the United States, and marks a new high point in our bilateral relations."
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Trong Chai (
Taiwan's top representative in Washington, Chen Chien-jen (程建人), said with the new caucus "the future relationship between Taiwan and the United States will definitively be even better and stronger."
Allen told reporters the Senate caucus will initially concentrate on such issues as Taiwan's participation in the work of the World Health Organization (WHO), especially if the SARS epidemic reappears as expected this winter, and assuring sufficient US arms sales to Taipei.
On the other side of the coin, the new caucus will also zero in on the divisive issue of Taiwan's failure to stem violations of intellectual property rights.
The same issues are likely to take up the attention of the House group, in addition to the promotion of a free-trade agreement with Taipei, an aide to Wexler said. He said the creation of a Senate caucus will allow for coordination between the two groups and make for a more powerful voice for Taiwan in the Congress.
Answering questions about Taiwan's bid this year to join the UN, Allen said he thought "Taiwan ought to be in the United Nations," but cautioned, "You see how difficult it is to have even observer status in the World Health Organization."
"I think it will be very difficult to get into the United Nations. I think we have to take it step by step," Allen said.
Getting Taiwan to participate in the WHO "is the No. 1 priority," he said. "I want to be straightforward with you. I don't want to give you false hopes. It think it will be very difficult getting into the United Nations."
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