Paul Coverdell: “I simply must make a remark or two about the statements that have been addressed before the Senate by my colleague from…”

“I simply must make a remark or two about the statements that have been addressed before the Senate by my colleague from Louisiana. He, obviously, is very much a student of the issues of China and Taiwan and the United States. He speaks with great sincerity and knowledge. I think he raises a significant dilemma. While we all acknowledge the scope of new China, the People's Republic of China, its size, its military prowess, its emerging economy, it almost reminds you of the Gold Rush, the oil booms, but given that, bigness in size and power alone cannot be the stanchions upon which we, or the rest of the world, establish our relationship with the People's Republic of China. Yes, those are critical ingredients. They cannot stand apart from everything else. The 20 million people who live in the Republic of China Taiwan also have long claim to one-China policy, but it does not accept dictatorship or oppression or many others of the grievous policies of the People's Republic of China. From the time Chiang Kai-shek retreated to that island in 1949, that was a conquest, in a sense, of Taiwan.”