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From: Senator Dianne Feinstein [mailto:[email protected]] 
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2018 5:44 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein responding to your message
 
  
Dear Richard:
 
Thank you so much for writing to share with me your concerns regarding U.S. policy towards the People's Republic of China and Taiwan.  I appreciate hearing from you and welcome this opportunity to share with you my views on this important issue.
 
I believe that the United States must maintain a policy of engagement with China.  It is my view that in order to positively influence China in the areas of human rights, political freedom, and security issues, the United States must not call into question our standing policy of engagement with China every time a controversial issue or disagreement arises.
 
I also support the "One China" policy that we have upheld since the signing of the Shanghai Communique in 1972. This policy is based, in part, on the understanding that China will seek to resolve its differences with Taiwan through peaceful means.  The "One China" policy has worked well: the United States and China have been able to conduct normal relations befitting two great powers, the U.S. and Taiwan have developed extensive economic and cultural ties, and Taiwan has prospered and become a model for fledgling democracies.
 
I fully support the development of a democratic Taiwan and the absolute necessity of a peaceful resolution of its differences with China.  Please know that I will continue to closely monitor the situation between Taiwan and China and should legislation regarding this issue come before the Senate, I will be sure to keep your views in mind.  
 
Again, thank you for writing.  If you have any more comments, feel free to visit my website at http://feinstein.senate.gov, or contact my office in Washington, D.C. at (202) 224‑3841.
 
Sincerely yours,


  Dianne Feinstein
         United States Senator
 
Further information about my position on issues of concern to California and the nation are available at my website,feinstein.senate.gov. And please visit my YouTube, Facebook and Twitter for more ways to communicate with me.

 

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There are three dilemmas in the East China Sea that not only post diplomatic difficulties for China, Japan and the U.S. to develop friendly relations but also create dangerous hotspots in Asia Pacific that may be ruptured into extensive military conflicts dragging three nations into a devastating war. The three dilemmas are: 1. Both China and Japan claim sovereignty rights to the Diaoyu Islands and the U.S. uncomfortably maintains a neutral position on the issue. 2. The U.S. wishes to maintain and expand a military base in Liuqiu but meeting strong local resistance and the resistance is becoming more concerned with political (independence movement from Japan’s illegitimate occupation of Liuqiu and desire to establish a friendly relation with China or even return to China for protection) than social issues (crimes committed by the U.S. military and Japan’s treating Liqiuans as second class citizens below Japanese). 3. Taiwan needs to be united with China under the One China policy which both the U.S. and Japan recognized and committed to China but apparently unwilling to see it happens for different and complex reasons.
 
These three dilemmas are connected as I shall discuss in this two-part article. I shall make a thorough review of the relevant history and offer an explanation of how the above dilemmas were created and connected. Only through understanding of the history and the human actions taken place that caused these dilemmas, then these dilemmas may be resolved rationally and the justice may be served in the end peacefully.
 
The Diaoyu Islands are a group of uninhabitable tiny Islands, some like barren rocks above the ocean surface. The five larger islands have area size averaging between 800 square meters to 4.32 square kilometers. Historically, these islands and the surrounding ocean, called black water trench (trough)(dark water color due to its depth) dividing the thirty six islands belonging to “Liuqiu Islands” on the North-East and the Taiwan islands (including the Diaoyu Islands and other islands surrounding Taiwan) on the South-West. Historical maps and records showed clearly that the Diaoyu Islands were part of Taiwan, in fact as a part of Yi-Lan Xian (county) of Taiwan according to old official documents. The Chinese have been fishing there for centuries. A piece of history involving an American diplomat, Charles Le Gendre, offers an illustrative background on the Diaoyu Islands issue. Gendre was a diplomat stationed in Xiamen port of China. In 1872, on his return journey to America passing through Japan, he was hired as a consultant by the Japanese government. He proposed a theory that Japan can take control of the islands surrounding Taiwan as no-man’s land. Japan as an aggressive island nation accepted his proposal and enhanced Japan’s ‘pirate like’ foreign policy further to attack Taiwan, Diaoyu Islands, Liuqiu and other surrounding islands. Gendre might have acted as an individual not on a diplomatic mission, but nevertheless, he planted a seed of embarrassment and dilemma for the U.S. that still troubles today. 
 
Based on many documents, Taiwan had clearly been under China’s sovereignty at least from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Timeline of China’s sovereignty over Taiwan can be roughly categorized in four periods: China sent expedition to Taiwan (230, East Wu Kingdom and 607, Sui Dynasty) and partial control of islands surrounding Taiwan (1263, Yuan Dynasty). 2. Arrival of sailors from Portugal, Spain and Holland in 16th and early 17th  century establishing trade but then the Western visitors surrendered to Zheng Cheng Gong (1662, son of Zheng Zhi Long, Ming’s general retreated to Taiwan seeking to recover failed Ming Dynasty). Later Qing Dynasty defeated Zheng (1683) and included Taiwan and surrounding islands into her sovereignty. 4. Japan practiced her ‘pirate’ foreign policy to expand her island territories especially eyeing Liuqiu, Taiwan and surrounding islands, initially in secrecy till she was militarily strong enough to take on China. Japan defeated China in the first Sino-Japanese War in 1894. Taiwan was ceded to Japan thus Taiwan was ruled by Japan for 50 years (1895-1945) and became separated from Mainland China till today due to China’s civil war and external interference, namely from the U.S. and Russia. The U.S. supported the KMT-ROC even after it retreated to Taiwan. Russia supported CCP-PRC and it succeeded in taking over the entire mainland China. ROC went through a political transformation ended the one party KMT rule, experiencing the expected multi-party power struggles dividing the island into multi-parties factions.  On the other hand, since 1960’s PRC departed from Soviet style of communism and experimented on her own socialism, initially with disastrous results and lately adopting some capitalism with amazing accomplishments. The U.S. had recognized PRC in 1979 and honored the one-China policy, but she was reluctant to see the reunification of Taiwan with Mainland China creating a diplomatic dilemma. One must ask is it long overdue for the U.S. to adopt a new China policy to recognize China as she is today and not hinged on a legacy strategy. It may not be so obvious to the Americans that the U.S. had created this Taiwan dilemma and erred on the side of injustice because our failure of recognizing the history behind these dilemmas.
 
Japan’s pirate behavior started in later part of Ming dynasty, attacking China’s coastal cities (for example, Hangzhou and Ningbo, 1550-1570) and Korea (1593, but was defeated by China, Korea was China’s Protégé State). When the Western powers came to Asia, Japan like China was mistreated. China was defeated by the British in the infamous Opium War (1839-1842) and was forced upon her an unequal treaty in 1842. Japan also suffered with an unequal treaty from the U.S. in 1858, but Japan underwent a drastic and successful reform of its political and military system adopting a constitutional monarchy system patterning the island nation Great Britain and copied the West in modernizing its industry (good for Japan), strengthening military (problem for neighbors) and practicing colonialism (more evil than the Western powers for Asians). This transformation period is known as Japan’s Meiji Restoration Period, from 1868-1912. When Japan grew stronger, she became more imperialistic and desired to practice colonialism; Japan set her sight on China as China was obviously weakened by the seven powers descended upon her from the West. Japan first tried to secretly (without alerting China) encroaching Liuqiu (invasion in 1872), then attacking Taiwan (1874, invading Taiwan and its surrounding islands in the East China Sea and forced Liuqiu to be Japan’s protégé State) and then Korea peninsula in the North (1875, Japan invaded Korea).
 
In 1879, Japan annexed Liuqiu Kingdom and kidnapped the king despite of China’s effort in asking the former U.S. President Ulysses Grant to intercede. Japan triggered the Sino-Japanese War in 1894. China’s defeat resulted in a devastating settlement by ceding to Japan: 1. Taiwan (Japan ruled Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 when Japan surrendered to the Allies), 2. Liaoning Peninsula (later returned to China under pressure from Russia and other European powers)., 3. Korea, pronounced to be an independent State (essentially letting Japan to dominate Korea, later Japan annexed Korea in 1910), and 4. War Reparation, equaling to more than seven times of Japan’s annual national budget. Since then Japan accelerated her military expansion and developed a plan to conquer China and to rule Asia. This plan was later obvious to the world and the U.S. especially after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor (1941) in order to realize her plan. (to be continued in part II)  
 
Ifay Chang. Ph.D. Producer/Host, Community Education - Scrammble Game Show, Weekly TV Columnist, www.us-chinaforum.org . Trustee, Somers Central School District.
  
 

Richard Chen

（美國）中美論壇社
US-China Forum, Inc.
8837 E. Las Tunas Dr., Temple City, CA 91780, U.S.A.
TEL: 310-710-1860    EMAIL: [email protected]
us-chinaforum.org   us-chinaforum.com
 

February 1st, 2018

Dear Senator Feinstein ：

We, a group of concerned Chinese American citizens interested in promoting a long term better U.S.-China relation and a stable peaceful Asia-Pacific region, would like to pay our tribute to your valuable service in the Sensate for over a quarter century and furthermore to wish you continued success in seeking another re-election.

We are writing you to call your attention to consider voting “no” to S1051, Taiwan Travel Act (TTA) should it come to the full Senate for a vote.

This bill states that it should be the U.S. policy to: (1) allow officials at all levels of the U.S. government to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taiwan counterparts; (2) allow high level Taiwanese officials to enter the United States under respectful conditions and to meet with the U.S. officials; and (3) encourage the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Representatives Office and other instrumentalities established by Taiwan to conduct business in the United States.  The Department of State shall report to Congress regarding travel by the U.S. executive branch officials to Taiwan.

A similar bill has already passed the House as H.R.535 on 01/09/2018. We would like to point out the severity of outcome should the Senate follow suit and the President sign it into law.

We all know that the U.S.-China relations have been built on the understanding and commitment to the three communiqués signed by both sides (in 1972,1979 and 1982), and the security of Taiwan has been under the protection based on the Taiwan Relations Act (1979). These 4 historical documents have been the cornerstones and consistent bipartisan U.S. foreign policy since 1970’s.

The enactment of TTA would certainly signify that the U.S is in no uncertain term to scrap the three Communiques that serve as the foundation of the diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China. Should that happen, the hard-earned progress and the great contribution that U.S. made to the betterment of lives of the 1.4 billion Chinese people since 1978 after China’s open and reform effort would be all for naught. But, would TTA bring peace and stability to the people in Taiwan? We do not believe that it would. On the contrary, the TTA will almost certainly provoke China to no longer honor its tacit commitment to a peaceful reunification of Taiwan. Instead, China might very well try to rely on a short but deadly military attack.  Is the U.S. prepared to face such a confrontation?  Even if our mighty military can win eventually, are we willing to pay such a dear price?

The U.S.-China relation has been one of, if not the most important bilateral relations between the two countries. Since the early 70’s, China has become one of the top three powers of the world. This achievement is met sometimes with the encouragement of the U.S., sometimes not.  For example, China has committed substantially her military force to the peacekeeping mission of the United Nations. In fact, China has dispatched to date more military personnel to such honorable tasks than any other UN member nations!  China’s active participation of the UN effort deserves our praise and support.
 
This planet we live in is with limited resources with ever increasing populations.  We have common problems that require joint collaborations rather than fighting against each other. By voting “no” to TTA, We are much better off to treat China as a friend, partner or even a peaceful competitor than an enemy leading to mutual destruction.
 
Respectfully submitted,

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Richard Chen 
Director of Communications
U.S.-China Forum



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