“The United States does not want provocation comments from Taiwan’s leadership to interfere with its fragile relations with mainland China,” a visiting group of U.S. congressmen said here (Taipei) Friday (Jan. 14, 2000) on the eve of meeting the leader of the nationalist island.

Delegation member and Pennsylvania Republican Patrick Toomey said both the “state-to-state” comment and the military maneuvers four years ago “had caused the United States problems.”