From: Taiwanese Association of America (TAA)
World United Formosans for Independence (WUFI)
Formosan Association for Human Rights (FAHR)
Taiwanese Collegian (TC)
Contact:C. K. Kuo (TAA, Atlanta) (404) 365-1636
Peter Chang (WUFI, Dallas) (214) 661-9797
Bob In-yu Yang (FAHR, Kansas) (913) 642-5307
I-Chung Lai (TC, New York) (607) 266-8843
Ing-Hour Lin (TAA-D. C. Chapter) (301) 294-2618
George Ku (TAA-N. Y. Chapter) (718) 445-7007
Jen Jo Wang (TAA-Houston Chapter) (713) 980-5184
Mei-Hua Wang (TAA-Chicago Chapter) (708) 577-0038
Keelung Hong (WUFI-S. F. Chapter) (415) 476-3880
Li-Fu Chen (TAA-L. A. Coordinator) (818) 965-2679
TAIWANESE PROTEST CHINESE MISSILE TESTS
On Friday, March 8, Taiwanese Americans all across this country will
converge on every embassy and consulate of the People's Republic of China in
Washington, D.C., New York, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco (Saturday and
Sunday, March 9 and 10) and Los Angeles to protest Chinese missile tests.
China had earlier announced that it intended to conduct ground-to-ground
missile launching training in two sea areas barely 30 and 12 miles off the
coast of Taiwan during the period of March 8-15. We, the overseas
Taiwanese, are outraged by this blatant Chinese provocation. These missile
tests are nothing less than naked threats against a growing independence
movement in Taiwan. They are timed to intimidate the 21 million inhabitants
of Taiwan from freely choosing their own future by voting in the first-ever
direct Presidential election on March 23.
China claims Taiwan to be a renegade province. However, the People's
Republic of China, since its founding in 1949, has not ruled Taiwan for a
single day. In fact, Taiwan and China have been separate political entities
for over one hundred years. Their separation in perpetuity was stipulated
in the Treaty of Shimonoseki. The people of Taiwan are now prepared to
determine their own future by the ballot, possibly opting for independence.
This is a bona fide exercise in democracy. China, on the other hand, abuses
human rights, sells nuclear technology to Pakistan, ships cruise missiles to
Iran, conducts nuclear tests, occupies Spratly Islands, suppresses Tibetan
dissent and pirates American intellectual properties. In short, China is a
totalitarian Communist country with no democratic scruples.
We urge the United States, the leader of world democracies, to support and
encourage the democratization process in Taiwan and denounce the misdeeds of
China. We call on the United States to abide by the Taiwan Relations Act of
1979 and dissuade China from conducting any missile tests in the Taiwan
Strait. To China, we demand that all on-going military exercises near the
shores of Taiwan, including the missile tests, be terminated immediately.