For Immediate Release
Washington DC – June 18, 2003
Contact: (202) 547-3686
FAPA Urges Bush To More Proactively Support Taiwanese Self-Determination And Further Open The Door On Independence
On June 18, 2003, the President of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), Ming-chi Wu, wrote to President Bush, asking him to clarify U.S. policy towards Taiwan and to more proactively support Taiwanese self-determination. The letter comes in the wake of President Bush’s meeting on June 1, with PRC President Hu Jintao. A senior Administration official quoted Bush as saying that President Bush did not “support Taiwan independence.”
FAPA shares the concern that PRC officials may misinterpret this statement and claim that the U.S. is actively opposed to Taiwanese independence, when in fact Bush Administration officials have previously stated that any cross-strait issues must be negotiated in a peaceful way and with the express consent of the people of Taiwan. The U.S. must make its position on Taiwan clear.
The letter reminds the Bush Administration that the United States must in principle support the right of the Taiwanese people to self-determination. FAPA agrees with Former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Jesse Helms who stated in April of 2001, “As a revolutionary nation ourselves, the U.S. has little moral authority to foreclose [the] option [of independence] to the 23 million free people who live in Taiwan.”
The letter states: “A basic principle of democracy, as so forcefully posited by our Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, is the right of a people to decide their own future – the right of self-determination.”
FAPA president Ming-chi Wu, Ph.D., states, “The United States must stand by its basic principle of independence through self-determination. Only the people of Taiwan have the right to determine the future of Taiwan!”
Full Text of the Letter
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President,
Taiwanese Americans from across the country join me in thanking you for your continued strong support for the safety and security of democratic Taiwan. I can assure you that our own thanks is echoed across Taiwan itself by the citizens there who are so rightly proud of their long struggle to build a human rights respecting democracy and who are determined to retain this painfully won political freedom.
We know how strongly you support democratic development around the globe. A basic principle of democracy, as so forcefully posited by our Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, is the right of a people to decide their own future, the right of self-determination. Taiwanese Americans firmly believe that the citizens of Taiwan have this right and we also believe that the United States should support it. China’s self-appointed leaders have constantly tried to get the United States to agree to their “One China Principle,” which denies this right to the people of Taiwan by claiming Taiwan is already an integral of the PRC.
As you well know, the United States has never accepted this Chinese position. All that the three U.S.-China communiqué do is “acknowledge” China’s claim; never has the U.S. “recognized” it. Instead, our U.S. “One China Policy” is that there should be a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan Strait issue with the U.S. supporting no predetermined outcome, leaving it up to the two sides to decide what a “future one China” might be. The U.S. has also noted that, because Taiwan is a democracy, the people of Taiwan must consent to any negotiated outcome of the Taiwan Strait issue.
It thus comes as an unwelcome surprise to our community, and the citizens of Taiwan, to hear a “senior official” give a background briefing regarding your June 1, 2003 meeting with President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China and state, “On Taiwan, the President repeated our policy of a one-China policy based on the three communiqué, the Taiwan Relations Act, no support for Taiwan independence. The Chinese basically accepted that, and said, okay, that’s positive. They did say that they have concerns about forces on Taiwan moving towards independence. The President said, we don’t support independence.”
We believe the Chinese leaders will misinterpret this statement and claim that the United States is actively opposed to Taiwanese independence. We do not believe this is your intent.
The United States must stand by its own fundamental principles, including the right of a people to self-determination. Former Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair Senator Jesse Helms elaborated on the right of self-determination for the people of Taiwan on April 21, 2001: “[…]; as a revolutionary nation ourselves, the U.S. has little moral authority to foreclose that option [of independence] to the 23 million free people who live in Taiwan.”
We believe that Taiwan is a model for citizens in other autocratic states to emulate. The United States, under your leadership, actively endorses the movement toward democracy as the one clear way to root out terrorists and their breeding grounds.
Clear U.S. support for the right of self-determination of the people of Taiwan would give heart to those engaged in such struggles around the world.
Sincerely,
Ming-chi Wu, Ph.D.
President, FAPA
FAPA籲請布希總統積極支持台灣人民自決，並對台灣獨立採取更為開放的態度
有鑑於六月一日美國總統布希和中國總理胡錦濤會談時，一位白宮資深官員向記者們作簡報時表達了布希總統並不支持「台灣獨立」的立場。台灣人公共事務會 (FAPA) 會長吳明基於六月十七日致函美國總統布希，籲請布希總統能夠澄清美國對台政策，並更積極地支持台灣人民自決權。
FAPA掛慮中國官方會因此誤解美國政府的對台政策，並進而斷言美國積極反對「台灣獨立」。因為事實上布希政府在過去不同場合中曾一再聲明，任何攸關海峽兩岸問題應該以和平方式談判、解決，並須得到台灣人民的同意。FAPA認為美國應該在對台的立場上有更為明確的態度。
此封信並提醒布希政府應該謹守美國支持台灣人民自決權的原則。FAPA相當同意長年來的台灣忠實友人，於去年甫退休的參議院外交事務委員會主席赫姆斯(Jesse Helms, R-NC) 在2001年4月26日所表示的：「…美國本身為一因革命而來的國家，我們沒有太大的道德權力去先行否決台灣兩千三百萬人民的（選擇獨立）決定權 (“[…]; as a revolutionary nation ourselves, the U.S. has little moral authority to foreclose that option [of independence] to the 23 million free people who live in Taiwan.”)。」 信中接著陳述：「誠如我們美國開國元老在獨立宣言與憲法中所明定的，民主的基本原則就是指人人有權決定自己的未來，也就是所謂的『人民自決權』」。
台灣人公共事務會會長吳明基表示：「美國應該要遵守當初其透過人民自決而得來的獨立原則。我們希望布希總統能夠更積極地支持台灣人民自決的權利，並對台灣獨立一事採取較開放的態度。畢竟，人民意志的自由展現為民主的最高表徵。人民自決的原則一再地在歷史中上演，美國在1776年以實際行動決定自己的前途，獨立於英國之外；1960年代一些非洲國家也以人民自決的原則獲得獨立；東帝汶在2001年以公投的方式展現人民的意志，自印尼獨立出來。人民自決是民主實踐中最基本的一原則罷了。FAPA堅信任何攸關台灣二千三百萬人民的重大問題，例如台灣前途等，只有台灣人民才有最終與唯一的決定權！」
