Dear Mr. Trent Lott,
　　 Mr. Denny Hastert,

A top military scholar issued a massage of warning yesterday (July 2, 1999) saying that few advantage Taiwan enjoys could be gone by 2005. He said that communist China definitely has the ability to cause great damage to Taiwan by setting up an air-sea blockade and by bullying the United States out of intervening in a Cross-Strait conflict.

Yang Wen-chen, a top-ranking war college professor, addressed a seminar on the possibility of a mainland attack, saying that Beijing's nuclear capability, missile technology and large navy and air force posed a particular threat to the island. He also pointed to the much discussed Beijing strategy of winning a war despite an inferior position, using advanced weapons and "information warfare" --- disruption of command and control structures and destruction of communication networks --- to subdue the ROC. But Taiwan cannot afford to overlook the PLA's missile technology and "information warfare", he added, saying that the ROC must continue to invest in anti-missile systems and information defense technology.

This is a justice writ large because the WTO, as a trade regulating body, should keep politics out of its operation. The 1992 consensus was a flagrant, pernicious political decision that hurts Taiwan's rights and interests. Everybody knows that the linkage is unreasonable, unfair and unjust. Everybody knows that membership should be based on qualifications, not political considerations.

Ironically, however, everybody also knows that WTO membership for Taiwan and mainland China is a political issue. Beijing reiterated that Taiwan may not gain entry into the WTO ahead of it. Long Yongtu, the mainland's deputy minister for foreign trade and economic cooperation, told an APEC meeting in Auckland, New Zealand that the GATT had set a "sequence of accession" for Taiwan and mainland China that must be followed by all member countries. Mainland China will block Taiwan's membership "by all means" should WTO ignore the decision.

Newsweek, July 5, 1999 ---
Chinese authorities have spear-headed a new campaign to undercut Tibetans' loyalty to their exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. Much of Beijing's strategy is pinned on its choice of the young Pachen Lama, a Tibetan "living Buddha" who is considered No.2 in the Tibetan pantheon after the Dalai Lama.

In June, the Beijing-sanctioned Panchen, now 9, returned to Tibet after years of seclusion. His move will undoubtedly antagonize followers of the Dalai Lama, who endorsed a different Tibetan boy (believed to be under house arrest) as the reincarnated Panchen, or "soul boy". But Chinese officials, who have led several years of "patriotic education" in Tibet, think time is on their side, when the current Dalai Lama passes away. Beijing anticipates that the Panchen Lama will replace him as the spiritual figure most revered by Tibetans.

New Delhi, India, July 6 ---
The Dalai Lama, who turned 64 on Tuesday (July 6, 1999) said he will not be reincarnated in Tibet, but in a free country outside communist Chinese control, an Indian news agency reported. "The purpose of a reincarnation is to carry (on) the work started by the precious life which remains unfulfilled." The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, was quoted as telling Press Trust of India(PTI), "Logically", he said. "The previous life escaped from Chinese hands, so the next life should also be out Chinese control."

The Dalai Lama, who won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, fled Tibet in 1959 with 100,000 followers during a failed uprising against communist Chinese rule. He lives in a Tibetan Buddhist community in the northern Indian town of Dharmsala and advocates autonomy for his homeland. "The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama has to carry on his unfinished work, which is the happiness of the Tibetan people. His reincarnation cannot do it in Tibet as he will be controlled by the Chinese." Tsering Tashi, the Dalai Lama's Secretary in New Delhi told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Tibetan Buddhists believe that the Dalai Lama, or the highest priest, has the power to decide where he will be reborn and to indicate possible places to look for the successor. Traditionally, after a Dalai Lama's death, a committee of high-ranking monks search those places, interviewing boys of around two years old, one who is seen to recognize items belonging to the previous Dalai Lama, and shows other signs, is chosen.

However, Taiwan and Tibet need your support.