Dear Mr. President George W. Bush,

We, our foundation appreciate your support democratic Taiwan. So, we want to tell you with our viewpoints and something happens on island in recent days ..

"A country [which starts a war] must courageously face its past behavior, as well as the feelings of the people who fell victim to its aggression and its neighboring countries," President Chen said on Aug. 22, 2001.

Ignoring the strong protests of other Asian countries, Japan's government has refused to revise the textbooks after approving their use in junior high schools.

"The recent protests [by other Asian countries] should not be interpreted as overreactions," Chen said.

The president also referred to the cross-strait situation, saying that Taiwan would do its best to protect its sovereignty and territory but would not resort to starting a war for that purpose.

"We will not launch an invasion of another country," the president said, "and there is no country which can legitimize an excuse to invade our country."

By denying Mr. Chen a chance to attend the APEC summit, China is missing an historic opportunity to begin substantive dialogue with its neighbor across the Taiwan Strait. The forum could begin a process of defusing a half-century of pent-up tension in one of the world's most dangerous flash points. The Ackerman Resolution could provide a crucial push to break the stalemate between China and Taiwan, promoting "direct dialogue, without precondition, between leaders on both sides of the Taiwan Strait." The resolution, which will be voted on early this September, acknowledges that President Chen's attendance at the summit would be "a constructive step" and an ideal starting point for a peaceful dialogue between China and Taiwan--a key objective of America's China policy in the Administrations of both Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Taiwan is a full member of APEC. Like China, Taiwan is a full member of APEC, an avowedly economic--not political--organization. Taiwan's leaders are entitled to be present at the summit. There is no regulation or memorandum barring Taiwan's democratically elected leader from attending. In fact, in 1991, APEC members committed themselves to "conducting their activities and work programs on the basis of open dialogue with equal respect for the views of all participants."

Taiwan plays an important role in regional stability. Taiwan has become Asia's most vibrant and dynamic democracy. Given that encouragement (indeed, pressure) from the United States played a role in this development, America's leaders have a moral commitment to support Taiwan, as well as a statutory obligation to, as President Bush put it, "help Taiwan defend itself," which the Taiwan Relations Act (22 USC 3301 and 3302) defines.

China's response to the United States' recommendation that President Chen be invited as a full participant to the APEC summit will be an indication of whether China is truly interested in resolving its differences with Taiwan peacefully. Beijing's continued insistence on barring President Chen's attendance--despite his repeated requests for face-to-face talks--would be evidence that China may opt to use force to impose its will in the Taiwan Strait. This could be an early sign that the United States must prepare for a prolonged period of firmness with China if peace and stability in the Pacific are to be preserved.

A s reports said that a staunch defender of Taiwan through thick and thin, after the 2000 presidential elections Helms wrote to President-elect Chen Shui-bian: "With your election this weekend -- which will result in the first-ever transfer of power from a Chinese ruling party to its democratic opposition -- Taiwan's democratic transformation is now complete.

"The people of Taiwan are to be congratulated for this enormous feat -- especially coming, as it did, in the face of belligerent threats from the Communist dictators in Beijing.

"The people of Taiwan made clear this weekend that if there is still `one China,' there are without question two Chinese states -- one Communist, one free; one whose leaders rule with an iron fist, the other whose leaders serve at the pleasure of the people."

In China, a total of 252 Tibetan political prisoners are being detained in Chinese jails, more than double the number which is claimed by Beijing, a Tibetan rights group said on Aug. 21, 2001.

Official Chinese media said in May only 115 of the 2,300 inmates incarcerated in Tibet were political prisoners, convicted of “espionage, subversion or terrorism.”

In Taiwan, the Mainland Affairs Council said on Aug. 21, 2001 it deeply regretted China's inability to separate politics and sports.

The announcement came after Minister of Education Ovid Tzeng refused to attend the 2001 World University Games in Beijing because he would have to carry a "Taiwan compatriot travel document" instead of a passport.

"We regret that communist China can not let sports be sports and politics be politics," the council said in a statement.

Not surprisingly, there are some in the U.S. who advocate that the U.S. and China should reach an accommodation over Taiwan. This line of argument has taken many forms over the past three decades, ever since President Nixon traveled to Beijing in 1972, but the recommendation is essentially the same: we should back off from Taiwan in return for improved relations with Beijing.

Unfortunately, the economic liberalization that has so dramatically transformed China has not yet produced a corresponding political liberalization. Although the regime has allowed the Chinese people a greater zone of freedom in their personal and public lives, these freedoms are strictly limited and may be narrowed or withdrawn at the whim of the regime. Even these modest freedoms require a grateful docility from the population. Innocent efforts to organize outside of the Party's control are still repressed quite brutally. One need only recall the images of unarmed students being shot down in Tien an Men Square to know the regime's attitude toward attempts at actual democratization.

All over the world, the populations in unfree countries look to the U.S., not because of our power or our material prosperity, but because of our ideals. Our country was founded on universal principles, ones we believe are applicable to every people. As Americans, we are inheritors of democracy and the rule of law, which evolved over centuries of bloody struggle with tyranny. Democracy assigns intrinsic value to human beings -- to every member of the human family. Our Declaration of Independence, our country's birth certificate, explicitly states that the source of human dignity is our "Creator," and the right to life and liberty is "unalienable." Even as I speak, the power of these ideals continues to inspire legions of brave and often isolated individuals around the world to take on seemingly impossible odds.

What does Taiwan's success mean for China? Taiwan's economic success was essential in convincing Beijing that a Western, market-oriented economic model would work in China. Now it is time for Taiwan's democratic model to have the same effect, only this time the audience is the Chinese population.

The statement said that Hyde believes the US should defend Taiwan because the country's experience as a democracy can serve as an inspiration to China.

"Taiwan's mere existence as a prosperous and stable Chinese democracy is a challenge to the regime in Beijing, because it is proof that its propaganda about the impossibility of democracy in China is false," the statement said, excerpting remarks from Hyde's planned speech.

"Instead of backing away from Taiwan, we should hold its democracy up as an inspiring example to all of China," the statement said on Aug. 21, 2001.

Taiwan needs your help.

                                                                 Yours Sincerely,