Dear Mr. Prime Minister John Howard,
　　 Mrs. Jenny Shipley,
　　 Mr. Trent Lott,
　　 Mr. Denny Hastert,

Without one single international witness.

A leading campaigner for East Timor independence, Jose Ramos-Horta, said Indonesia was seeking to repeat the "ugly, tragic years" of 1975-79 when some 200,000 East Timorese died in the aftermath of Indonesia's invasion, "without one single international witness."

"The United Nations put Indonesia on notice that if it did not stop the killings in East Timor within 48 hours, the world community would consider taking steps to end the bloodshed," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in New York on Monday night (Sep. 5, 1999), "the present chaos in East Timor cannot be allowed to fester any longer."

On the other hand, China warned Taipei yesterday (Sep. 7, 1999) not to hold a referendum on independence like the one in East Timor last week, saying the result would be "very dangerous". China lead's focus on referendum of East Timor, and fearing that it would encourage Taiwan went ahead with such a referendum.

Nevertheless, world anger has been mounting since pro-Indonesian militiamen, sometimes openly supported by the military, intensified their campaign of terror against East Timorese who voted overwhelmingly last week for independence from Indonesia. Hundreds of people have perished in recent days, and more than 40,000 East Timorese had fled their homes and many others were heading into West Timor ...

On the other hand, the crisis over cross-strait, after a shot period of calm that lead some analysts to suspect President Lee Ten-hui was mulling a back down on his controversial redefinition of cross-strait relations, the president yesterday (Sep. 7, 1999) reaffirmed his stance.

"For many years the PRC has called itself a central government and Taiwan only a regional government, creating many misunderstandings in the international arena," said Lee said to a group of Central America state leaders yesterday who were attending a summit between the ROC and its Central American allies in Taipei.

"Therefore, two months ago I pointed out that cross-strait relations are a 'special state-to-state' relationship," said Lee.

"This voice cannot be overlooked by the international community," Lee said, adding that he was only expressing an "existing reality" that the ROC was an "independent, sovereign country."

Lee also reiterated that the nation's policy towards mainland China has not changed. This can be interpreted to mean that his redefinition will not be written into the ROC Constitution nor will the National Unification Guidelines be revised.

"Under the four principles of pragmatism, parity, progress and peace we will actively develop beneficial and mutual interactions and reunify the nation using democratic means, " said Lee.

Lee pointed out that diplomacy and trade relations were closely linked, and that the nation would pursue its policy of "pragmatic diplomacy" using trade and economic relations as a basis. But he pleaded for more international recognition for the PRC.

"For many year, the people of the ROC and its government have hoped to rejoin the United Nations and other international organizations. Although mainland China has oppressed and blocked this, the international arena has gradually come to realize that the 21 million people of the ROC have rights ... I deeply believe justice and universal rights will prevail," Lee said.

Lee, addressing the Central American state leaders as "brothers," thanked them for their support and said the ROC would continue efforts to join international organizations.

The ROC and its seven Central American allies yesterday signed a communique at a high ranking summit that swaps continued diplomatic backing for financial support.

The summit of Central American state leaders and President Lee Teng-hui was the first of its kind to be held in Taiwan.

It demonstrates the ROC's intention of drumming up international support, following continuing diplomatic isolation and Beijing's recent fury at what it perceives as Lee's push for statehood.

The ROC will push more investment in the region and cooperate with Central American countries in developing their economies, the communique says, such as fostering and diversifying trade and developing tourism.

Taiwan relies on such inducements to keep diplomatic relations with 29 mostly small, poor countries and refute mainland China's claim that Taiwan is not a sovereign state and has no right to diplomatic relations.

In exchange, the seven countries reiterated their "recognition of the sovereignty of the Republic of China."

The leaders also said in the communique that "in accordance with the principle of universality of the United Nations, all states that meet the requirements established by the U.N. Charter have their right to seek administration into the United Nations," referring to their belief in the ROC's right to enter the United Nations.

The summit underscores the importance of Taiwan's relations with Central America, rooted in their shared hardline anti-communism beliefs during the Cold War but now vital to Taiwan's claim to sovereignty.

Among projects discussed at the conference were disbursement of a US$ 240 million development fund and US$ 50 million to the Central American Bank of Economic Integration for relending to small businesses in the region.

The Central American countries expressed their "great satisfaction" with advanced in cooperation between the sides, the communique said. No solid figures on projects were released.

The Central American leaders also expressed gratitude in the communique for President Lee's interest for the ROC to become an extra-regional observer of the Central American Integration System (SICA). The Central American leaders agreed to study "appropriate ways" to bring this about.

At a press conference after the summit, Lee refused to comment further on cross-strait relations or constitutional reform, saying the ROCs' domestic issues were irrelevant to the summit.

Also participating in the one-say summit were Guatemalan President Alvaro Arzu Irigoyen, Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman Lecayo, Honduran President Carlos Roberto Flores, Salvadoran President Franciso Guillermo Flores, Costa Rican Vice President Astrid Fishel Volio and the deputy prime minister of Belize, John Briceno.

Vice President Jamine David Fernandez Mirabal of the Dominican Republic, which also recognizes Taiwan, attended as an observer and endorsed the communique.

BEIJING ---
China warned Taiwan yesterday (Sep. 7, 1999) not to hold a referendum on independence like the one in East Timor last week, saying the result would be "very dangerous."

"The East Timor issue and the Taiwan issue are two issues of totally different nature and cannot be mentioned in the same breath," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi told reporters.

Sun did not elaborate. China is opposed to any move suggestive of independence for Taiwan.

Indonesia gave its blessing to the August 30 East Timor referendum that produced an overwhelming vote for independence. But hundreds have been killed in recent days as pro-Indonesia militiamen went on the rampage.

Asked what China's reaction would be if Taiwan went ahead with such a referendum, Sun said: "This kind of action is playing with fire. The result will be very dangerous."

But he stopped short of repeating China's longstanding threat to invade if the island declared independence.

Sun urged Taiwan to "recognize the situation and walk the road of peaceful reunification and 'one country, two systems'."

Beijing wants Taipei to reunify peacefully under the "one country, two systems" formula under which Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule in 1997 and was promised a high degree of autonomy.

Ties between Beijing and Taipei have soured since Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui declared in July that bilateral ties should be on a "special state-to-state" basis.

China saw Lee's declaration as an abandonment of the "one China" policy that kept the peace for decades and as a "dangerous" lurch towards statehood.

China's Communist Party flagship newspaper, the People's Daily, said in a front page commentary yesterday the mainland would reunify with Taiwan one day no matter what the cost.

"No matter how grim the situation is, no matter how tortuous the road is, the Chinese government and the Chinese people will surmount all difficulties and ultimately complete the great cause of reunifying the motherland," it said.

East Timor's bid for autonomy should be met with full respect, the foreign ministry said yesterday (Sep. 4, 1999), but it denied any relevance of the violence-plagued province to cross-strait relations.

"As a member of the international community, we respect the people's decision," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Henry Chen told the Taiwan News.

But Chen doubted if the East Timor referendum could lend any experience to Taiwan, which has recently hit heightened tensions since President Lee Teng-hui proposed on July 9 to have special state-to-state ties with China.

"The East Timorese people could come to the ballot booth to decide their country's future because the Indonesian government allowed it," Chen said. "This is a the essential factor."

"There is simply no relevance between the direct vote and our situation, for two reasons. First, we have been a sovereign state since the very beginning. Second, China," he said.

"Referendum - needless to say, is out of question," Chen said.

"Asked if Taiwan would consider building diplomatic ties with East Timor, Chen said it is too early to discuss. "We will wait until the situation calms down."

Democratic Progressive Party legislator Alice Wang, a member of the Legislature's foreign affairs committee, espoused a different outlook.

"This is a very good example of how democracy works," she said.

Milton Yeh, professor at National Chi' Nan University's Southeast Asian Studies Graduate School, said there was simply no similarity between the East Timor's case and Taiwan's situation right now.

"East Timor was allowed by the Indonesian government to hold a public vote, and it has been endorsed by dozens of foreign countries," Yeh said.

"But in our case, none of the nations the world over would like to see strained ties between Taiwan and China, regardless of the reason."

In our view, the real purpose of President Lee's statement is to achieve equal political status for fair negotiation in the near future.