C.T. Lee (李青泰), a staunch advocate for Taiwan-US relations and a former Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) president, passed away on Jan. 9, the Washington-based nonprofit said in a statement on Thursday.
He was 82.
Lee, a Taiwanese-American medical doctor, was FAPA president in 2006 and 2007, “working to reinforce US support for Taiwan and actively promoting the normalization of US-Taiwan relations,” said the organization, which promotes cooperation between Taiwan and the US.
Photo: Taipei Times
FAPA expressed “deep regret” that Lee could not live to see their shared dream — Taiwan gaining universal international recognition and becoming a fully independent and normal country — being fulfilled.
However, “he would be heartened to know that we will carry his torch forward and continue the fight,” FAPA said.
During Lee’s time as the president of Fapa, he “championed Taiwanese people’s rights to self-determination,” the statement said
In a 2007 interview, he highlighted FAPA’s key objective as “normalizing Taiwan-US ties by lifting all restrictions on high-level visits, advocating for Taiwan’s membership in international organizations such as the UN and the WHO, and countering China’s unfounded claims of sovereignty over Taiwan,” it said.
Lee was active as a FAPA member for decades before taking the role of president, tirelessly engaging with Cincinnati-area members of the US Congress and advocating for the causes of “Taiwan independence” and “keeping Taiwan free,” it said.
He garnered the support of legislators, including former US senator Rob Portman, and former US representatives Steve Stivers and Steve Chabot, it said.
Early in 1994, Lee reached out to Chabot, one of “Taiwan’s strongest supporters” in the US House of Representatives, a move “shaping US-Taiwan relations through numerous legislative initiatives over the next three decades,” the statement said.
Chabot and then-US senator Marco Rubio, who is now US secretary of state, introduced the Taiwan Travel Act, which was signed into law in March 2018.
The act facilitates high-level visits between officials of the two nations and promotes bilateral ties.
FAPA said that the act is a historic achievement, opening the way to “numerous congressional initiatives and actions in support of Taiwan.”
Chabot and Rubio also introduced a resolution reaffirming the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act and the 1982 “six assurances” as cornerstones of the relationship between Taipei and Washington, it said.
FAPA, founded in 1982, is one of the oldest grassroots advocacy organizations for Taiwan in the US, its Web site says.
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