Tension Across the Taiwan Strait

* Lee Kwan Yew (Commentary, March 12), the benevolent despot emeritus of Singapore, says that America should understand that Taiwan is as much a part of China as Tibet. Taiwan is, in fact, if not in legal fiction, an independent country and an emerging democracy. Tibet is an oppressed nation that should be independent, and China is misgoverned by one of the top three homicidal regimes in all human history.

Besides encouraging Clinton to stand firm, Americans can do one more thing. Don’t wait for official trade sanctions. Boycott Chinese goods, until we hear that Chinese can peaceably assemble and petition for redress of grievances without being run over by tanks!

JAMES K. MATTIS

Sunland

* In “Taiwan’s Fate Is Final Act of China’s Civil War” (Opinion, March 10), Maurice Meisner concludes that Taiwan has historically been part of China and thus “there is no overwhelming historical argument for an independent Taiwan.”

The right to be recognized as an independent nation obviously rests on far more than ethnic ancestry, historical claims by one country against another, or even the willingness of other nations to support a country’s claims of independence. Another crucial factor is the will of the people. Throughout the past 400-plus years, the people of Taiwan--21 million in number today--have not been accorded the opportunity to decide for themselves, without threats, pressure, or coercion from outside entities, whether they want to “reunify” with China.

Today, Taiwan undeniably functions independently from China, with its own increasingly democratic government, its own (“informal”) diplomatic ties with the other nations, its own military (largely supplied by the United States), its own bustling capitalistic economy and international trade relations, a per capita income 24 times that in China and, importantly, a unique history and culture, shaped in turn not only by the Chinese ancestry of most of the island’s inhabitants, but also by Dutch and Portuguese settlers, a significant period of Japanese rule, Kuomintang control, and now an increasingly democratic political system.

It is time for the world to acknowledge the right of the 21 million people of Taiwan to self-determination over their own present and future status.

ELSA Y. CHEN, President

Taiwanese American Citizens

League, Redondo Beach

* The tension across the Taiwan Strait has been easing for the last 30 years, in great part due to the visionary actions of the late President Nixon. The current crisis is mainly due to lack of trust and understanding between the leaders of the U.S., China and Taiwan.

We cannot blame the foreign leaders, because we Americans are not sure what this administration is doing. If we still commit to the “one China” policy, then clearly honor it. If someone thinks it no longer serves our interests, then let all citizens know the consequences and have an open debate.

A small number of interest groups are maneuvering this important issue. It is beyond my comprehension that politicians who dodged the Vietnam War want to get us involved in a potentially much larger confrontation with China.

VICTOR CHANG

Los Angeles