Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

U.S. HOUSE RESOLUTION EXPRESSES GRAVE CONCERN ABOUT NEW BEIJING LAW

ROC Central News Agency

2005-03-17 18:42:01

    Washington, March 16 (CNA) The U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution by a vote of 424-4 Wednesday expressing the grave concern of the Congress regarding China's recent enactment of its Anti-Secession Law targeting Taiwan.

    The resolution demands that the Bush administration voice its grave concern about Beijing's provocative action in enacting a law authorizing the use of force against Taiwan.

    It also urges the administration to reaffirm the U.S. policy that the future of Taiwan should be resolved by peaceful means and with the consent of the people of Taiwan.

    The resolution was initiated by House International Relations Committee Chairman Henry Hyde and the Committee's ranking member Tom Lantos along with a handful committee members, including Chris Smith, Dan Burton, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Dana Rohrabacher, Steve Chabot, Darrell Issa, Jo Ann Davis, Joe Wilson and Connie Mack.

    Noting that President George W. Bush stated Dec. 9, 2003 that it is the U.S. policy to oppose any unilateral decision, by either China or Taiwan, to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, the resolution says the passage of the Anti-Secession Law by China's rubber-stamp National People's Congress March 14, 2005 constitutes an unilateral change to the cross-strait status quo.

    Citing a report in 2004 by the Department of Defense on China's military power, the resolution points out that Beijing had deployed about 500 short-range ballistic missiles aimed at Taiwan and that the arms buildup of missiles and other offensive weapons by Beijing in the areas adjacent to the Taiwan Strait poses threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific.

    The resolution further says that the Taiwan Relations Act, enacted in 1979, makes it clear that Washington's decision to set up diplomatic relations with Beijing rested upon the expectation that the future of Taiwan should be determined by peaceful means with the consent of the people in Taiwan.

    It is Washington's policy to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security or the social or economic system of the people in Taiwan, the resolution says.

    The resolution concludes that: (1) The Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China provides

    a legal justification for the use of force against Taiwan,

    altering the status quo in the region, and thus is of grave

    concern to the United States; (2) The president of the United States should direct all appropriate

    officials of the United States Government to reflect the grave

    concern with which the United States views the passage of China's

    Anti-Secession Law in particular, and the growing Chinese

    military threats to Taiwan in general, to their counterpart

    officials in the Government of the People's Republic of China; (3) The government of the United States should reaffirm its policy

    that the future of Taiwan should be resolved by peaceful means

    and with the consent of the people of Taiwan; (4) The government of the United States should continue to encourage

    dialogue between Taiwan and the People's Republic of China.

(By Jorge Liu and Sofia Wu)

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