House sends letter to Clinton

Washington, 21 June 1998.

Just before president Clinton's departure for his trip to Beijing, a bi-partisan group of members of the US House of Representatives -- nine Democrats and eight Republicans -- sent a joint letter, urging him to reject the so-called "Three No's". Almost all of the signatories are members of the House International Relations Committee or its Asian Subcommittee.

In the letter, the members of the House expressed their strong opposition to "... any plans to codify any aspect of US policy toward Taiwan which would deny Taiwan's existence as a separate political entity and deny the Taiwanese people their right to self-determination as defined in Article 1 of the United Nations Charter."

The congressmen urged Clinton to call on Beijing to renounce the use of force against Taiwan and to cease blocking Taiwan's bids for membership in international organizations such as the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the World Trade Organization.

Twelve influential senators also sent a similiar letter to Clinton earlier this month reiterating their opposition to enshrining the "three noes" in any formal document during Clinton's June 25-July 3 mainland visit.


The text of the letter

June 19, 1998

Dear Mr. President:

As you prepare for your summit with the leaders of the People's Republic of China in Beijing, we would like to share our thoughts regarding U.S. relations with Taiwan.

The People's Republic of China has in the past shown great zeal in trying to persuade the United States to compromise our strong support for Taiwan. We urge you to reject any efforts at the summit by the Chinese leadership to diminish this support. Taiwan's stature in the global economy, as evidenced by its standing as the eighth largest trading partner of the United States and the largest holder of foreign currency reserves, makes our continued support for Taiwan critical to our national interests. Taiwan's recent and rapid political development resulting in its transformation from an authoritarian dictatorship into a full-fledged democracy, further underscores the importance of maintaining our close, mutually beneficial relationship.

We ask you to carefully consider several policy issues during your preparation for the summit. First we urge you to reject any plans to codify any aspect of U.S. policy towards Taiwan which would deny Taiwan's existence as a separate political entity and deny the Taiwanese their right to self-determination as delineated in Article 1 of the United Nations' Charter. Specifically, we ask that you refrain from a commitment to formalize the three policy points generally referred to as the "three noes." These are: no support for the "One China, One Taiwan" policy, no support for Taiwanese independence, and no support for Taiwan's membership in international organizations.

We also urge you to call on the People's Republic of China to renounce the use of force against Taiwan and to cease blocking Taiwan's bids for membership in international organizations such as the United Nations, the World health organization, and the World Trade Organization. It is important that you reaffirm to Beijing the terms of the Taiwan Relations Act with regard to both the continuation of arms sales to Taiwan and the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait relations.

Sincerely,

Congressmen Peter Deutsch, (D-FL), Gerald Solomon (R-NY), chairman of the House Rules Committee, Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Lantos (D-CA), Peter King (R-NY), Dan Burton (R-IN), Steve Chabot (R-OH), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Bob Wexler (D-FL), Rober Andrews (D-NJ), Steve Rothman (D-NJ), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Brad Sherman (R-CA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Howard Berman (D-CA) and Pete Sessions (R-TX).

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