For Immediate Release
Washington DC – August 30, 2007
Contact: (202) 547-3686
FAPA writes Deputy Secretary Negroponte, urging support for Taiwan entry into the UN
On August 30th 2007, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) sent a letter to US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, urging the US Administration to make it clear that the US does support a free and democratic Taiwan, and help it to join all international organizations, including the UN. The Association added “Not doing so will be a grave mistake.”
The Association’s letter was in response to Mr. Negroponte’s remarks to Phoenix Television in Honk Kong on Monday, August 27th 2007. FAPA wrote that it appreciated Mr. Negroponte’s statement that the US is committed to the defense of Taiwan through the Taiwan Relations Act, but that it took issue with the Bush Administration’s opposition to the proposed referendum on joining the United Nations under the name “Taiwan.”
FAPA emphasized that the proposed referendum “..underlines the popular desire of the people in Taiwan to be a full and equal member in the international community. It is also designed to counter China’s – quite successful – strategy of isolating Taiwan internationally.”
FAPA wrote Mr. Negroponte that “By stating the American position in this fashion, the US Administration is playing into China’s cards and is angering and frustrating those in Taiwan who have worked long and hard to achieve democracy on the island. The US is playing into China’s cards, because the Beijing authorities are manipulating the US Administration to do their bidding.”
FAPA stated that “Taiwan has changed from being a repressive KMT fiefdom in the 1970s to a full-fledged democracy of world citizens.” It added: “US policy has not kept up with that sea change and still maintains an outdated “One China” framework dating back to the 1970s.”
The Association concluded: “As citizens of the US, we expect our government to support democracy around the world, and in the land of our birth in particular. We believe that the US needs to nurture that democracy, but the statements coming out of the State Department have the effect of stifling it.”
FAPA is a grassroots organization of Taiwanese-Americans. It was established in 1982, is headquartered in Washington, and has 56 chapters across the United States.
Full Text of the Letter
The Honorable John Negroponte
Deputy U.S. Secretary of State
Washington, D.C. 20520
Dear Mr. Negroponte,
As American citizens of Taiwanese descent, we would like to express our views on your August 27th statement to Phoenix Television in Hong Kong.
While we highly appreciate your statement that the US is committed to the defense of Taiwan through the Taiwan Relations Act, and your emphasis on the friendship between Taiwan and the United States, we take strong issue with your opposition to the proposed referendum regarding joining the United Nations under the name “Taiwan.”
We may emphasize that the proposed referendum underlines the popular desire of the people in Taiwan to be a full and equal member in the international community. It is also designed to counter China’s – quite successful – strategy of isolating Taiwan internationally.
By stating the American position in this fashion, the US Administration is playing into China’s cards and is angering and frustrating those in Taiwan who have worked long and hard to achieve democracy on the island. The US is playing into China’s cards, because the Beijing authorities are manipulating the US Administration to do their bidding: as democracy in Taiwan is growing and deepening, they have less influence over Taiwan. Their tactic is clearly to scare the US into restraining Taiwan’s democracy – and, judging by your words and actions, they seem to be succeeding.
By making statements like this, the US Administration is also deeply disappointing those who worked for many decades to bring about democracy to Taiwan. The leadership of the DPP – like President Chen – had to sacrifice much to make the transition to democracy happen. You may know that President Chen’s wife is in a wheelchair. President Chen and others in the leadership were imprisoned for their political belief in freedom and democracy under the former repressive Kuomintang regime.
So when the DPP gained power in 2000, they expected that the United States and other Western nations would welcome this new and fragile democracy with open arms. Instead, they were sidelined, ignored, and neglected by the US Administration, operating under anachronistic “One China” policy guidelines.
“Taiwan” has changed from being a repressive KMT fiefdom in the 1970s to a full-fledged democracy of world citizens, who want to be a full and equal member of the international community. US policy has not kept up with that sea change and still maintains an outdated “One China” framework dating back to the 1970s.
As citizens of the US, we expect our government to support democracy around the world, and in the land of our birth in particular. We believe that the US needs to nurture that democracy, but the statements coming out of the State Department have the effect of stifling it.
Membership in the UN is an important issue for the people in Taiwan, and it would greatly benefit the international community if it could get a good sense of how the Taiwanese people view this issue. It would even be a good example for the Chinese to see how democracy works.
We therefore urge you strongly to make it clear that the US does support a free and democratic Taiwan, and that it is US policy to bring Taiwan out of the isolation imposed on it by a totalitarian regime, and help it to join all international organizations, including the UN. Not doing so will be a grave mistake.
Sincerely,
C.T. Lee M.D.
President
cc. Mr. Stephen Hadley, NSC
