US lawmakers called June 26 for an end to restrictions on visits to the United States by high-level Taiwanese officials. The demand was adopted by the foreign affairs committee of the House of Representatives and now goes to a full vote in the House. A parallel resolution is in the works in the Senate.
The resolution's sponsor in the House, Republican Steve Chabot, said it was time to send a clear message to Beijing over Taiwan, which the United States is legally bound to defend in any military conflict. "It is terribly unfortunate that democratically elected officials from Taiwan are not permitted to visit our nation's capital -- while the unelected leaders of communist China are given the red-carpet treatment," he said. (Source: Yahoo!News, Jun 26, 2007).
Rep. Steve Chabot is a strong support of Taiwan's government. In his letter released in Examiner a year ago on June 30, 2006, Rep. Chabot considers that "there is a lot more at stake for the U.S. than who controls power in Taipei. Should Taiwan decide to move in the direction of accommodation with the PRC, U.S. interests in Asia would steadily be eroded." 'China's current softer approach complicates Taiwan's relationship with the U.S., and makes Washington less tolerant of Taiwan's efforts to acquire international support," he said.