Speech before the Los Angeles World Affairs Council on August 8, 2001:
His
Excellency C. J. Chen
Representative, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office
in the United States
Thank you for your kind
introduction. I am happy to be back
in Los Angeles and delighted to have this opportunity to talk to you about the
country I represent, the Republic of China on Taiwan, and its relationship with
the United States.
In light of the developments over
the last few months and in anticipation of future developments in the next year
or two, this is a timely and important subject. But, because my time is limited,
I will keep my remarks short and focus on three main points:
one, Taiwan’s development over the last 50 years; two, Taiwan-U.S.
relations at present, and three, future prospects for bilateral relations.
As you know, fifty years ago,
Taiwan was a poor and underdeveloped society with an annual per capital Gross
National Product (GNP) of $150. Our
external trade totaled a mere $300 million, while our GNP was around $1 billion.
Fifty years later, we have become an affluent and prosperous country with
a per captia GNP of $13,000, annual trade of over $300 billion, and a GNP of
$320 billion.
Although Taiwan is only the 138th
largest country in the world in terms of land area (about 1/11th the
size of California) and the 46th largest in terms of population,
Taiwan is now the world’s 17th largest economy, 15th
largest trading nation, eighth largest investor, fourth largest holder of
foreign exchange, and the third largest exporter of IT products. We are proud of
our economic achievements, in spite of the current economic slowdown in Taiwan.
While we are proud of our
economic achievements, we take more pride in our political accomplishments.
Fifty years ago, Taiwan was a closed and authoritarian society.
We enjoyed little freedom of speech or freedom of assembly, and we did
not have meaningful elections. Fifty years later, Taiwan has become an open,
free, and democratic country. We
now have five television stations, 66 cable TV systems, 146 radio stations, over
470 daily newspapers, more than 7, 000 periodicals, and countless Internet
media. Taiwan is home to over 94
political parties, and virtually every level of public office in Taiwan is
vigorously contested through free and fair elections.
In 1996, we held the first-ever direct election of our president, and
four years later, in the presidential election of 2000, we had the first
peaceful transfer of power from one party to another in fifty years. Not only are our people freer and happier, we have also
smashed the myth that democracy and Asians don’t mix.
Taiwan’s development experience
proves that the free market economics and democratic politics pursued by
Americans for over two centuries can be duplicated and can prosper in an old and
oriental society whose cultural roots reach back over five millennia.
Taiwan’s success in this regard has provided a strong and solid basis
for its broad and deep relationship with the United States.
Our relationship with the United
States is, of course, not simply bilateral in nature. It is influenced by a range of factors: one, domestic
developments in Taiwan, the Chinese mainland, and the United States; two,
relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, and three, changes in the
international situation -- especially in the Asia-Pacific region.
Among these various influences,
national interests and national values play an especially evident role.
Undoubtedly, each country has its own national interests and preferred
values, but that does not preclude the emergence and convergence of common or
parallel interests and shared values. That
has certainly been the case in relations between Taiwan and the United States,
with long and close ties as allies and friends. With the liberalization and
democratization of Taiwan, with increasing mutually beneficial transactions
between the two countries, with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) still
posing a threat to the peace and stability in the region, with cross-strait
relations remaining uncertain, and with the advent of the age of globalization,
the commonality of interests and values between Taiwan and the United States
becomes obvious and clear. There can be little doubt that U.S.-Taiwan relations
today are close, dynamic, rich and mutually fulfilling and, in one word, ROBUST.
Let me give you a few concrete examples to illustrate my point.
First, bilateral trade between
the United States and Taiwan topped $64.8 billion last year.
U.S. exports to Taiwan totaled $24.3 billion last year, while U.S.
imports from Taiwan reached $40.5 billion.
Taiwan was the seventh largest export market of the United States and
seventh largest source of imports. Overall,
Taiwan was the eighth largest trading partner of the United States. In fact,
over the last decade Taiwan has imported an average of 50 percent more U.S.
goods and services than has the PRC, which is 58 times more populous and 265
times larger than Taiwan.
While the Mutual Defense Treaty
signed by the United States and Taiwan in 1954 was abrogated twenty-two years
ago, we still share a common interest and commitment to maintaining peace and
stability in the Taiwan Strait and, indeed, in the Western Pacific region as
well. This is especially true since
the PRC still refuses to renounce the use of force against Taiwan.
We deeply appreciate the United
States’ commitment, under the Taiwan Relations Act, to view any threat to our
security as a matter of grave concern and to provide us with sufficient means to
defend ourselves. We appreciate
that U.S. administrations -- Democratic and Republican alike -- have reaffirmed
the “Six Assurances” of 1982. These
commitments help promote stability in the Taiwan Straits, lend strength to our
relations with the United States, and allow us to move forward with measured
confidence in a changing and challenging new world environment. Of course, the
United States is not only helping defend Taiwan, it is defending the causes that
both of us stand for -- freedom, democracy, and human rights.
Last year, nearly 30,000 students
from Taiwan were enrolled in a U.S. university or college.
Some 4,566 of these students were in California, and 766 Taiwan students
were enrolled in the University of Southern California alone. You may not know
that half of the members in our Cabinet and over half of the leaders listed in
our Who’s Who have studied in the United States.
In the field of science and
technology, Taiwan and the United States have signed 124 formal agreements
covering cooperation on everything from nuclear power to environmental
protection, from meteorology to biomedicine.
However, much of the private
trade and investment between our two countries is concentrated in the high-tech
sectors. Take Silicon Valley, for
example. Excluding strategic and
personal investments, it is conservatively estimated that Taiwan invests well
over $200 million in Silicon Valley every year. In fact, three out of every four companies in the Valley that
specialize in semi-conductor R&D rely on Taiwan foundries to produce their
new designs. Over 500 companies in
the Valley are owned in whole or in part by people from Taiwan.
You may remember [that] when a
powerful earthquake struck Taiwan in September 1999 the Dow Jones Industrial
Average fell 225 points and the NASDAQ dropped 65. Why? Because the
earthquake briefly disrupted production at semi-conductor factories in Taiwan,
leading to higher computer prices.
Once Taiwan was a distant and
exotic destination for only the most intrepid of Americans. Now it is a major
air transportation hub in the Asia-Pacific.
Last year, nearly two million flights passed through the Taiwan Flight
Information Zone. In 1854, it took
Commodore Matthew Perry nearly four weeks to reach Taiwan.
Today, there are over 270 direct flights between Taiwan and the United
States every week. Air travelers can depart LAX in the evening, get a good
night’s rest, and wake up refreshed in Taiwan in the morning.
Our growing proximity has
resulted in more cross-fertilization and creativity.
Earlier this year, for example, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences bestowed four Oscars on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, it was
recognizing the excellence of a collaborative effort between a Taiwan director
and an American scriptwriter. That film, by the way, grossed over $100 million
at box offices in the United States and Taiwan.
On a slightly less dramatic
level, nowadays one can find Taiwan-style home cooking in Monterey Park just as
easily as the golden arches of McDonald’s in Taipei.
As a matter of fact, Taiwan has the eighth most McDonalds in the world
(341) and the second most Starbucks in Asia (63).
From these selected examples, we
can have a clear glimpse of the broad and deep relations existing between Taiwan
and the United States; however, I am not blind to some remaining issues in our
relationship with the United States. The absence of diplomatic relations makes
it difficult to reach solutions for some problems.
Quite often our relationship is unduly influenced by the PRC.
I can cite many well-known examples for you, but instead, let me just ask
why, as close friends, we should have to conduct our affairs through furtive
meetings in hotel rooms and restaurants? In
an era when national leaders meet with each other all the time, why cannot
higher ranking leaders from Taiwan meet with their counterparts in Washington,
D.C.? Why must the PRC cause the
United States to hesitate, like helping us to participate in international
organizations, which so many people in the United States support?
We hope that this situation can be remedied. The U.S. must consider its own interests, but it is in the
interest of all of us to rectify unfair, unjust, and unreasonable international
situations. The time for dubious standards should have passed.
For this reason, I am especially
pleased that U.S. officials in the current administration have not only been
saying that we are good friends, they have been treating us as such.
Earlier this year, President Bush
told an interviewer, “Let me make this clear to you and to the Chinese
(meaning the PRC): I will enforce the Taiwan relations law…. if the Chinese
get aggressive with the Taiwanese we’ll help them defend themselves.”
In March, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, “We [the United
States] must maintain our commitment to Taiwan to ensure that it has defensive
means so that this democracy can feel secure behind its armed forces, while also
in the knowledge that it has a friend in the United States.”
Later that same month, Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “It is fair to say that the Bush
Administration does not view Taiwan as the ‘problem’ in our relationship
with China. We frankly view it as an opportunity.”
In June, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Jim Kelly told members of
Congress that “the PRC cannot ignore the elected representatives of the people
of Taiwan…instead, it must offer a case that is attractive to a democratically
elected leadership.”
The American decision to make a
ROBUST package of defensive supplies available to us, the handling of President
Chen Shui-bian’s transits and former President Lee Teng-hui’s visit, even
Health Secretary Tommy Thompson’s comments supporting our efforts to
participate in certain activities of the World Health Organization, all of these
are specific and meaningful examples of smooth and steady progress.
I fully expect this progress
[U.S.-Taiwan relations] to continue in the future. We cherish our relationship with the United States and attach
great importance to it. We
understand that the United States is a global power with global
responsibilities. We understand that the United States wants to improve its
relations with the PRC in order to cope with or resolve some difficult world
issues. We understand that an open
and rational PRC would improve the lives of countless Chinese people, reduce
Beijing’s aggressiveness, and bring both stability and sustained prosperity to
the Asian-Pacific region. Nevertheless, we hope that any improvements in U.S.-PRC
relations will not come at our expense. After all, what can we gain by
neglecting the interest of a loyal friend?
As Secretary of State Powell said, “If we weaken relationships with
allies and friends, we weaken ourselves.”
We understand that our
relationship with the PRC is an important factor in our relationship with the
United States, so we hope that there will be positive developments in
cross-strait relations. We are eager to promote mutually beneficial trade and
investment between the two sides, and we welcome cultural and educational
exchanges with the PRC. We would
love to see a resumption of dialogue between the two sides.
We would be happy to discuss the “one China” issue or any other issue
with the PRC. We would love to see the PRC stop its military buildup and use its
resources for more meaningful and peaceful ends.
Ladies and gentlemen, given the current state of U.S.-Taiwan relations, given the encouraging approach and attitude of the U.S. administration, and given the growing awareness of our common interests and shared values in the global community, I am optimistic about the future of the relationship between Taiwan and the United States. I am confident that, with your continued friendship and support, our relationship will only grow more healthy, more vigorous, more rich, more fulfilling, and, in a word, even more ROBUST in the future. This is in the interest of Taiwan, the United States, the Western Pacific, and indeed the whole world.