Should Taiwan be admitted to the United Nations? : joint hearing before the Subcommittees on International Security, International Organizations, and Human Rights and Asia and the Pacific of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One PDF
Preview Should Taiwan be admitted to the United Nations? : joint hearing before the Subcommittees on International Security, International Organizations, and Human Rights and Asia and the Pacific of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives, One
SHOULD TAIWAN BE ADMIHED TO THE UNITED NATIONS? Y4.F76/1:T 13/12 Should Taiuan be Adnitted to the ^"- • • LTTf' A "DTTVT/^ BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEES ON INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL SECURITY, ORGANIZATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND ASIA AND THE PACIFIC OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATrVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 14, 1994 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs HAH Bms '^^mum U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 84-403CC WASHINGTON 1994 : ForsalebytheU.S.GovcmmeniPrimingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments,CongressionalSalesOffice,Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-046262-2 SHOULD TAIWAN BE ADMITTED TO THE UNITED NATIONS? Y4.F76/1:T 13/12 Should Taiuan be Adnitted to the ^"^^ •• LTXp A OTAT/^ BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEES ON INTERNATIONAL INTERNATIONAL SECURITY, ORGANIZATIONS AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND ASIA AND THE PACIFIC OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRD CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 14, 1994 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs MAR 6 SS5 U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 84-403CC WASHINGTON 1994 : ForsalebytheU.S.GovernmentPrintingOffice SuperintendentofDocuments.CongressionalSalesOffice.Washington,DC 20402 ISBN 0-16-046262-2 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS LEE H. HAMILTON, Indiana, Chairman SAM GEJDENSON, Connecticut BENJAMIN A. OILMAN, New York TOM LANTOS. California WILLIAM F. GOODLING, Pennsylvania ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa HOWARD L. HERMAN, California TOBY ROTH, Wisconsin GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York OLYMPIA J. SNOWE. Maine HARRY JOHNSTON, Florida HENRY J. HYDE, IlHnois ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey Samoa DAN BURTON, Indiana JAMES L. OBERSTAR, Minnesota JAN MEYERS, Kansas CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York ELTON GALLEGLY, California MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida ROBERT A. BORSKI, Pennsylvania CASS BALLENGER, North Carolina DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey DANA ROHRABACHER, California ROBERT E. ANDREWS, New Jersey DAVID A. LEVY, New York ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois SHERROD BROWN, Ohio LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART, Florida CYNTHIA A. MCKINNEY, Georgia EDWARD R. ROYCE, California MARIA CANTWELL, Washington ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida ERIC FINGERHUT, Ohio PETER DEUTSCH, Florida ALBERT RUSSELL WYNN, Maryland DON EDWARDS, California FRANK McCLOSKEY, Indiana THOMAS C. SAWYER. Ohio LUIS V. GUTIERREZ, Illinois Michael H. Van DUSEN, ChiefofStaff Jo Weber, StaffAssociate Mickey Harmon, StaffAssociate (II) 5iAH Subcommittee on International Security, International Organizations and Human Rights TOM LANTOS, California, Chairman HOWARD L. HERMAN, California DOUG BEREUTER, Nebraska GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York OLYMPIA J. SNOWE. Maine MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey FRANK MCCLOSKEY, Indiana DAN BURTON, Indiana THOMAS C. SAWYER, Ohio ROBKKT King, StaffDirector Michael Ennis, Republican Professional StaffMember Beth L. Poisson, Professional StaffMember Theodore M. HIRSCH, Professional StaffMember Andrea L. Nelson, Professional Staff Member Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York, Chairman ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American JAMES A. LEACH, Iowa Samoa DANA ROHRABACHER, California MATTHEW G. MARTINEZ, California EDWARD R. ROYCE, California ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey TOBY ROTH, Wisconsin SHERROD BROWN, Ohio ERIC FINGERHUT. Ohio Russell J. Whson, StaffDirector James McCORMICK, Republican Professional StaffMember Robert M. Hathaway, Professional StaffMember David S. Adams, Professional StaffMember David FelTMAN, Professional StaffMember (III) CONTENTS Page WITNESSES Hon. James Lilley, former U.S. Ambassadorto China 13 Hon. John Bolton, formerAssistant Secretary ofState for International Orga- nizations 16 Hungdah Chiu, professor of law and director of East Asian Legal Studies Program, School ofLaw, UniversityofMaryland (Baltimore) 18 James D. Seymour, senior research scholar. East Asian Institute, Columbia 19 LuUnngi-vcehrusiCthyen, professoroflaw. NewYork Law School 21 APPENDIX Statements ofMembers ofCongress: Hon. Tom Lantos 47 Hon. Gary L. Ackerman 52 Hon. Robert G. Torricelli 54 Hon. ChristopherH. Smith 58 Hon. Luis V. Gutierrez 61 Hon. Peter Deutsch 63 Hon. Dan Burton 64 Hon. EdwardR. Royce 67 Prepared statements: Hon. James Lilley 68 Hon. John Bolton 75 Hungdah Chiu 87 James D. Seymour 103 Lung-chu Chen 119 HarveyJ. Feldman, U.S. Ambassador, retired 120 Excerpt from "The Growth and Accomplishments of the Republic of China on Taiwan": President Lee Teng-hui's answers to questions submitted by Presidentsand Prime MinisterMagazine 132 (V) SHOULD TAIWAN BE ADMITTED TO THE UNITED NATIONS? THURSDAY, JULY 14, 1994 House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on International Security, Inter- national Organizations and Human Rights, joint WITH THE Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, Washington, DC. The subcommittees met, pursuant to call, at 10 a.m. in room 2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Tom Lantos (chairman of the Subcommittee on International Security, International Orga- nizations and Human Rights) presiding. Mr. Lantos. The Subcommittees on International Security, International Organizations and Human Rights, and Asia and the Pacific, are convening today to discuss the complex question of whether Taiwan should be admitted or readmitted to the United Nations. As ofAugust 1, 1993, 184 states were represented in the General Assembly, and I would guess that the names of some ofthem might be unfamiliar or perhaps even unknown to many. How many of us can immediately place Barbuda, Comoros, Vanautu, or Saint Vin- cent and the Grenadines on the map in terms of weight and impor- tance in the international trading system, in terms of gross domes- tic product, in terms of technological prowess, and in terms of for- eign exchange reserves? I do not mean to denigrate these countries or to suggest that they do not belong in the United Nations; rather, I mean only to illustrate the degree to which the current U.N. membership reflects the world's political landscape. This is only fitting because U.N. membership is based on the principal ofuniversality, and the orga- nization is in fact enriched by the widest possible participation. Indeed, even the Holy See has permanent observer status as do several international organizations, including, among others, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee, and the Latin American Economic System. And the Palestine Liberation Organization was invited in 1974 to attend U.N. General Assembly sessions and international conferences. But isn't it curious that a country of 21 million people that is both a model for emerging democracies and an economic power- house should be excluded from U.N. membership that includes such luminaries as Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Cuba, Libya, and North Korea? I speak, of course, of Taiwan, which as a result of an infa- (1) mous act of Chinese legerdemain, lost its seat at the U.N. in 1971 to the Peoples Republic ofChina. Let me say at the outset I fully realize there is a debate among the citizens of Taiwan regarding whether the correct name oftheir country is the Republic of China on Taiwan or simply Taiwan. Our purpose today is not to get bogged down in internal partisan de- bate, but rather to address the very important pragmatic question of how we can promote Taiwan's participation in the entire inter- national system in a manner that benefits both Taiwan and the international community. Today I will use the name Taiwan which is more familiar to the U.S. public. The statistics are impressive: Taiwan's population is greater than that of three-quarters of the countries in the United Nations. Tai- wan has the 25th highest per capita income in the world and the 20th largest Gross National Product. Only 19 countries on the face of this planet have a greater output than does Taiwan. And Tai- wan, of course, boasts of the world's second largest holding of for- eign currency reserves. In fact, the total foreign currency reserves of all of the countries of the former Soviet Union, including Russia, are but a small fraction ofTaiwan's $80 billion foreign exchange re- serve. Taiwan has the 14th largest volume of global trade and ranks 7th in overseas investment. So how can one explain the absence of this country, which has governed itself for more than 50 years in an increasingly demo- cratic fashion, in an organization that includes so many other newly independent states that play an infinitely smaller role in the international system? I am not even talking about the failed societies, so many, which still have United Nations memberships. Quite simply, this is one of the cruel relics of the cold war that has yet to be swept away. Although in the last 5 years we have witnessed the dismantlement of many of the tragic anomalies of that era, some old wounds still fester, such as Fidel Castro's vicious rule in Cuba, the tense stand- offon the Korean peninsula, and the PRC's claim on Taiwan, which casts a shadow over that country's otherwise bright future. The resolution of Cuba and North Korea's difTiculties unfortu- nately still await a future date, but Taiwan's ambiguous identity seems increasingly anachronistic in this day and age when former Soviet satellites, ranging from East Germany to Uzbekistan, have proudly assumed their seats in the U.N. and other international bodies. Taiwan, however, is excluded from the U.N. because the People's Republic of China, one of the five permanent members of the Secu- rity Council and thus a possessor of the veto, is adamantly opposed to Taiwan's admission. The rest ofthe U.N. membership, including the United States, is unwilling to challenge the Chinese on this issue. Taiwan's exclusion cannot be justified in terms of international law as Taiwan more than meets the traditional criteria of state- hood. Nor would granting Taiwan U.N. representation in any way prejudice the ultimate resolution of Taiwan's status. The two Ger- manys reunified, although both had seats in the United Nations; and so could China and Taiwan at some future date if that were the wish of both nations. Thus, Taiwan's continued absence from
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