Taiwan

Re “Broker a Cross-Strait Truce,” Commentary, June 25: Lynn T. White III was right in his assessment that a truce across Taiwan Strait is the first step toward a peaceful solution to the conflict between Taiwan and China.

However, he was very much off the mark by advising President Clinton to say to Taiwan that Taiwan is Chinese and that U.S. commitments to the island’s people will be fulfilled when Beijing offers Taipei terms for reunification with practical autonomy. As pointed out in his article, voters in Taiwan increasingly elect anti-Chinese politicians. Those voters are not anti-Chinese. They are not separatists. They are just pro-Taiwan. Can White explain to the Taiwanese that they have no right to assert their own identity, to protect their sovereignty and to choose to live in a free and democratic society?

WENCHENG LIN

Hacienda Heights