Dear Mr. Thomas Daschle,  
        Mr. Dennis Hastert,  
        Mr. Trent Lott,

A team of US experts will travel to Beijing this month for talks on halting the spread of missile technology, the State Department said on Aug. 14, 2001, a week after reports in US newspapers accused a Chinese firm of supplying missile parts to Pakistan.

The talks, agreed to when Secretary of State Colin Powell was in the Chinese capital late last month, will take place on Aug. 23, and if necessary conclude the following day, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.

The US inter-agency team will be led by the acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Non-Proliferation Vann Van Diepen.

US suspicions over alleged Chinese missile exports represent one of the most intractable issues in the tense US-Sino relationship.

Last week, the Washington Times quoted US intelligence officials as saying that a Chinese state firm had shipped 12 batches of missile components to Pakistan, in an apparent contravention of a Sino-US non-proliferation deal reached in November last year.

China and the company concerned, the China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation, denied the reports.

US officials refused to comment on that issue and earlier reports in the Washington Post that Washington had made a formal protest of Chinese sales to Pakistan.

Powell said he had "moved the ball forward" in talks with top Chinese leaders on the issue in Beijing two weeks ago but that differences remained.

Pakistan's shipments, if confirmed, would appear to violate the accord under which China committed not to export ballistic missile components restricted by a global anti-missile pact.

In return, the former US administration said it would process applications from US firms that wanted to launch satellites on Chinese rockets.

Taiwan is moving to end a half-century ban on direct economic links across the Strait, but there is a hitch: Beijing wants Taiwan to say it's part of China first.

The proposal -- revealed on Aug. 19, 2001 by the cross-strait panel of the Economic Development Advisory Conference -- comes as a growing chorus of Taiwanese business leaders, politicians and economists demand the government increase trade ties with China.

The current "no haste, be patient" China investment policy would be replaced by a policy of "aggressive, active opening," a statement from the Mainland Affairs Council said.

Taiwan has been cautious about easing the restrictions, fearing that an exodus of capital might cripple the nation's economy, already hit hard by the global slowdown.

The policy bans single investments worth more than US$50 million and bars those in the infrastructure and advanced technology sectors. However, such investments are often channeled through foreign subsidiaries of Taiwan companies -- with or without government approval.

Taiwan's manufacturers and opposition politicians have called for a policy change. Rising labor and land costs are making local companies less competitive against global rivals who are moving operations to China, they argue.

The cross-strait panel will present its proposals by Aug. 15 for review at the economic conference, to be held from Aug. 24 to Aug. 26. Premier Chang Chun-hsiung on Aug. 13, 2001 guaranteed that "any agreements arrived at during the council discussions would be fully implemented by the government."

But China's cold-shouldering of President Chen Shui-bian's administration could scupper rapprochement. Beijing has been mum as it wants Taiwan to admit it is a part of a bigger China before talks begin.

"It's an important first step, but it takes two to tango," said Daryl Goh, an economist at SG Securities (HK) Ltd. "The Chinese could use this as a bargaining chip to bring Taiwan back to the negotiating table to talk about `one China.'"

"This is a problem," said Fang Jeng-ren, an economist at President Securities Corp. "It's difficult to make progress with no negotiations."

"The extensiveness of these relaxation measures should draw a response from China," Fang said. "It may open up a little."

Political observers said the policy turnaround was essential as both Taipei and Beijing are set to join the WTO later this year or early next year.

"Once the rivals are allowed in the global trade regulatory body, Taiwan must open its markets to China exactly as it does for other countries," said Chang Hsien-chao, assistant professor of National Sun Yat-sen University's Graduate Institute of Mainland China Studies.

Meanwhile, Vice President Annette Lu was infuriated by the proposal and directed some sharp remarks -- albeit indirectly -- toward the president.

"That individual [Chen] in control, that person in power, should gather his courage and consult [his] conscience, so that [he] can take responsibility for the historical decision," Lu said.

Lu also had harsh words for Taiwanese businessmen.

"At present, Taiwanese businessmen are fleeing like a swarm of bees to China, taking Taiwan's hard-earned capital and investing it there," Lu said. "And now they want to force the government to open up trade without any limitations."

Reports from CSIS Pacific Forum that …

Taipei's decision this week to gradually lift controls on cross-strait economic and trade exchanges - including scrapping the $50 million ceiling on individual mainland investment cases - is perceived by Beijing as long overdue, but is no doubt welcome. Chinese analysts and officials alike see more and more people on the island drawing a direct link between their personal prosperity and closer Mainland-Taiwan ties.

Although there is a consensus that China's leverage over Taiwan has increased, there is widespread frustration that Beijing has been unsuccessful in translating these positive trends into political success. Chen Shui-bian is portrayed as intransigent and determined to lead the island in the direction of independence. Scores of KMT delegations visiting China in the past year have urged Beijing to avoid opening a dialogue with Chen that might strengthen his position and increase his chances of re-election, Chinese analysts say.

Instead, the KMT urges Chinese leaders to await the return of their party to power, promising that the KMT will pursue a cross-Strait policy that is more amenable to Beijing. Some KMT officials have even urged the Mainland to further weaken Chen Shui-bian domestically by attacking him personally as an advocate of independence.

While China is perturbed by President Chen's unwillingness to return to the 1992 consensus, accept the existence of one China or admit that he is Chinese, Beijing is neither alarmed nor impatient. At present, the deadlock in the cross-Strait relationship can't be broken by China, noted one expert, but it also can't be altered by Taipei or by Washington. "Our bottom line is that there can't be any movement in the direction of Taiwan independence," the analyst stressed. Beijing's policy of "listening to his words and watching his deeds," was likely reaffirmed at Chinese leadership meetings in Beidaihe this month.

Taiwan is located right at the middle of the Northern Pacific area and the Southern Pacific area. It's just 90 miles off the east coast of China. In terms of population, Taiwan would be ranked 45th among UN members. Just to give you some statistics, in the 1950s, the GNP in Taiwan per capita was just US$150. Today, it is US$15000. People in Taiwan endured 38 years of a martial law regime. And now we enjoy as much freedom as you people do in the U.S..

Taiwan's people are the most peaceful and friendly on earth. Despite the fact that China has been so hostile towards us, our people still consider them as relatives and neighbors. So they go there to do business to make friendship and also to make peace that why Taiwanese actually invest quite big money into China to help China develop.

Unfortunately, Beijing does its wills. In 1995, China began to deploy 50 missiles. But now, it is estimated they have over 300 ballistic missile aimed at Taiwan with an increase of 50 each year.

Many Taiwanese people admit that they are Chinese, but not politically. Politically, there is the People's Republic of China in mainland China and there also exists the Republic of China on Taiwan. So if people identify myself as Chinese, we just confuse others. So we want to make it clear that politically speaking, we acted as Taiwanese rather than Chinese.

In China, the leaders in power are still very narrow-minded. They always emphasize that Taiwan is part of their territory, which is not true. They still want to develop or enhance their military invasion. So I really worry that so long as they continue to deploy missiles against Taiwan and continue to expand their military power, there will be fewer and fewer chances for peace in this area.

We thought UN’s decision was crude over ROC in Taiwan. Before 1971, it was the taxpayers from Taiwan who supported the UN. But on October 25 of 1971, when the UN passed Resolution No. 2758, all of a sudden, no representation from Taiwan was admitted in the UN. Absolutely absurd.

I would like to take this opportunity to bring your attention to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. Chapter 6 deals with peaceful resolution of disputes. According to all of the provisions, the situation in Taiwan Strait deserves the Security Council's attention. It's time for the UN. It is time for peacemakers to pay attention to what is going on in this area. Before it is too late, I think something has to be done in order to stop China increasing missiles against Taiwan.

In the eyes of globalization, there ought not to be much confrontation between two neighbor states. We consider China ethnically as our relatives and geographically as our neighbors. So being relatives and neighbors, there is no reason for us to fight against each other. We should cooperate and we should co-exist.

Despite a couple of domestic issues, such as corruption and financial problems, our major concern is how to deal with China equally, democratically and peacefully. The fact is that China always makes excuses not to have dialogue with us. China continues to increase its military power, including increasing the deployment of ballistic missiles against Taiwan. That really bothers us.

According to the provision of the UN Charter, the UN Security Council and the General Assembly should pay attention to the situation here. And any UN State Members can also make a request for attention from the UN as well. We sincerely hope that even NGOs, like the Association of World Citizenship, or any other institutions for peace, should help us to stop any mistakes from taking place. I think the best strategy is to apply preventive diplomacy as early as possible to tell the leaders in China to stop increasing their military intention.

We sincerely hope that eventually there will be peace treaties signed between Beijing and Taipei, and that there will be monitoring by international society. That is, under the UN's monitor.

In the past, we enjoyed a booming economy. Unfortunately, following the policy to allow people to exchange programs cross-strait, we have noticed that our economic progress has declined. More and more Taiwanese businesspeople go to China and more money goes to China as well. In a way, it is an upset to us.

Why have the Chinese leaders of mainland China forgotten the virtues of peace and love? Because the people in power haven't grown up. In order to strengthen their power base, they need to show their force. So the true democracy will not come until the totally awaking of the general population.

Nativization was originally a process opposed to the expansion of globalization that formed around the world, and can be considered a phenomenon that sprang from opposition to globalization. However, in Taiwan, under the influence of the powers that be, nativization has become a mentality, and a tool for fighting for power. This not only blurs nativization as a introspection but also makes nativization a method in which the minority oppresses the majority.

Since the former President Lee Teng-hui era, due to the differences in national identity among different ethnic groups, the interpretations presented by these groups are being polarized with the progress of democratization. Some native Taiwanese emphasized Taiwan's subjectivity and wanted it to be the goal of national reconstruction. In their minds, Taiwan is not only a symbol, but also an important axis to political identity reconstruction. This process of reconstruction is extensively defined by the concept of nativization.

In contrast, some of the mainlanders (people who came from the mainland with the KMT) still carry on the tradition of seeing "China" as the ultimate goal for all their hard work in Taiwan and feel that nativization doesn't necessarily equal desinification. From a bigger point of view, they feel that nativization should be explained by encompassing all of China and use that as a starting point for global expansion. It can be said that neither "Taiwanification" nor "Sinification" is far away from the thinking of nativization. It can also be said that because these two different roads feed off of each other, it gives us more time to think about the future during our democratic process.

Ever since the Chen-Lee Order, different factions of nativization and non-nativization have sprung up. The nativization faction is said to be siding with Chen and Lee, using them as their political symbols. The forming of the pro-Lee league has transformed nativization into a political tool that attacks not only internal oppositional forces but also China's political power, making enemies with almost everyone, as can be seen from the assaults by the opposition parties.

When nativization and non-nativization become a marker for different mentalities and becomes a tool for argument, it not only weakens Taiwan's chance to gain a position in the world but it also hinders Taiwan's democratic process.

I sincerely urge that all the peace-loving countries "Please say yes to Taiwan." So here we are inside the country of Taiwan, the Republic of China. We are right inside what used to be called the Palace, because it was built back many years ago. We are speaking directly to the world and asking the world to be aware of the situation of Taiwan and be aware of the situation in China. Do whatever you can wherever you can in your governments, in your universities and in your missions to help Taiwan and to help China to understand and to have dialogue. This is not being negative towards China. We will co-exist with China peacefully. We would like to enhance our future collaboration, but please don't invade us in which vice President Lu said that, we Taiwanese said also.

So, Taiwan needs your help.

                                                                 Yours Sincerely,