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[Page: S1668]
Mr. FORD. Mr. President, it has been said that freedom always entails danger. So perhaps we here, in a country that has seen our share of battles on behalf of liberty and democracy, should not be surprised by China's latest action against Taiwan.
It is no coincidence that China has planned to hold missile tests off of Taiwan's coast during that country's first democratic Presidential elections. But despite China's predictable behavior, it is no less a violation of all that we hold dear to us here in this freedom-loving country.
China's latest act of coercion will accomplish nothing more than to further tarnish her image as a country whose human rights abuses seem to know no borders and no boundaries.
This latest action comes at a time when Taiwan is about to embark on what democratic countries as our own often take for granted--the free and open elections of our leaders.
By conducting missile tests off the shores of Taiwan--the third testing since Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hut visited the United States last June--China is not only effectively shutting down the two largest commercial ports in Taiwan, it is sending a message to the people of that country that their liberty is constantly in jeopardy.
I want my colleagues to be aware that these tests not only will affect Taiwan's exports and imports in the short term, but are bound to have long-term effects as well. Some analysts put the loss at as much as 20 percent for both imports and exports.
Those are losses that will be felt around the world, including my home State of Kentucky here exports to Taiwan ran close to $73 million in 1994.
This does not even begin to touch on the repercussions for the financial markets from the predicted selling of the Taiwan dollar to driving share prices into a further slump. These financial backlashes will be long felt both in Taiwan and around the world.
And yet, these fiscal concerns probably are not foremost on the minds of a nation who fears first for the safety of her people. One account I have read says that nobody trusts the accuracy of Beijing's weapons, and that even the slightest misfire could hit inhabited areas. Even if these weapons are unarmed, the impact would be enormous if smashed into Taiwan.
Mr. President, let me close my asking my colleagues to remain ever alert to China's actions against this fledgling democracy. They have made their coercive intentions abundantly clear and we should not waver in our belief that nations must adhere to a certain international code of conduct.
I would also call on the administration to continue to monitor the People's Republic of China and to take the necessary steps toward assuring that China understands, in no uncertain terms, that Taiwan must be afforded its due respect in accordance with that international code.
As the leader of the free world, we can do no less than send a clear message of how this behavior is simply unacceptable.
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