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[Page: H1971]
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from California [Mr. Cox] is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. COX of California. Madam Speaker, just in reply to the remarks of my colleague from Colorado I have to say I agree completely, that women have been leaders in every field of human endeavor, including conservative politics, and for that reason there are women all over America who cheerfully disagree with the gentlewoman from Colorado on many subjects.
Let me talk about something that I think all of us here in the House can agree with, and that is the importance of a united U.S. foreign policy in Asia at this moment.
In just 2 weeks Taiwan will have its first direct presidential election, the first fully free and democratic election of a head of state in nearly 5,000 years, in 4,700 years, of Chinese civilization. This is a remarkable achievement, and Americans should be enormously proud of Taiwan's democracy. The thriving democracy on Taiwan stands in marked contrast to the continuation of communism across the Taiwan Strait and
the People's Republic of China.
Madam Speaker, Taiwan is America's seventh largest trading partner. The People's Republic of China is the sixth largest trading partner of America, and yet the People's Republic of China has 250 times the territory of Taiwan, it has 60 times its population. Consider then that Taiwan, and its people, and its economy actually buy more goods and services from America than does the People's Republic of China. The People's Republic of China is our sixth largest trading partner as compared to Taiwan, our seventh, only because they have an enormous trade deficit, in fact the largest in the world, with us.
We have, from a trade standpoint, a very strong interest in being friendly to both the People's Republic of China and to Taiwan. But because the Communist government in Beijing believes that democracy on Taiwan threatens its continued existence, they have been intimidating, through military brut force, the voters on Taiwan.
Today the People's Republic of China began launching missiles over the Taiwan Strait. It will do so, we are told, for 8 days, between now and March 15, in particular in 2 target areas 20 miles east of Keeling, a port city in the northeastern part of Taiwan, and 30 miles west of Kaohsiung, a port city in the southwestern part of Taiwan.
I want to underscore as we meet here tonight that Communist China has already begun firing these missiles.
Over 70 percent of commercial shipping enters Taiwan through these two port cities that I mentioned. Already military actions undertaken by the Communist government in Beijing have amounted effectively to a partial blockade of Taiwan. They have disrupted already commercial shipping in the Taiwan Strait. They have even disrupted airline traffic which has had to be rerouted around the island.
This is not the first time in the runup to these elections that Communist China has sought to intimidate freedom and democracy in Taiwan. The People's Republic of China has conducted large scale military maneuvers to intimidate Taiwan before its legislative elections in December. The latest round of intimidation, just recently, includes amassing 150,000 Chinese troops and 220 fighter aircraft just miles from Taiwan. And China, when the People's Republic of China sought to intimidate voters as they went to legislative elections, they fired nuclear capable missiles about 100 miles north of Taiwan last July.
The People's Republic of China has officially and unofficially told the United States that they have developed plans for a 30-day missile attack of Taiwan. People's Republic of China officials told former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asia, Chas Freeman, that they have developed such plans. They told a Stanford scholar, John Lewis, who is close our Defense Secretary Perry, that they have developed plans for a sustained 30-day missile assault on Taiwan. These same military leaders have even made a thinly veiled threat against the United States, communicating again with Chas Freeman, that they might attack the United State with nuclear weapons should we concern ourselves with the preservation of democracy and freedom on Taiwan in the face of a Communist Chinese military assault.
Madam Speaker, it is outrageous that Communist China is planning and threatening a military invasion of Taiwan. Nothing in law or nature gives the communists the right to launch a military attack on millions of innocent civilians there. It is doubly outrageous that they are doing so to intimidate democracy, and for this reason today a bipartisan group of House Members has introduced a resolution. It is numbered House Concurrent Resolution 148.
I just note that it is House Concurrent Resolution 148, sponsored by every Member of the House leadership and bipartisan leaders, particularly of the Human Rights Caucus, the Democratic and Republican membership of the House of Representatives, and I urge all of my colleagues to sponsor this very important resolution.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. Gejdenson] is recognized for 5 minutes.
[Mr. GEJDENSON addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from New York [Mr. Towns] is recognized for 5 minutes.
[Mr. TOWNS addressed the House. His remarks will appear hereafter in the Extensions of Remarks.]
[Page: H1972]
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