A Legislative History of the Taiwan Relations Act Vol. 3 (q) [Paperback]

Lester L. Wolff (Illustrator, Editor), Jon D. Holstine (Illustrator, Editor), David J. Lewis (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 439 pages
• Publisher: Pacific Community Inst; 1 edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967165008
• ISBN-13: 978-0967165004
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,755,914 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Congress and Taiwan: Who Said What, March 28, 2000

By 

Deborah Betko (Henneker, NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Legislative History of the Taiwan Relations Act Vol. 3 (q) (Paperback)

Last year was the 20th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act, which was first written as a protection for Taiwan against abandonment of its people and government by the administration of Jimmy Carter and its successors. The bill became law and survives until today. This work appeared to coincide with that anniversary. The law provides that this country will maintain Taiwan's ability to resist a coercive settlement by the Beijing government. It has provided a center line for U.S. policy in the Western Pacific, but not without its detractors and would-be renovators. Trying to sort out the political threads that run through our relations with China and Taiwan, and the positions taken by Members of Congress, past and current, I found this book to be useful. It has organized relevant sections of the Congressional Record by section of the Act, some of which received no attention, while others, much discussion. It covers the period form 1994 to 1998 (ending with the 105th Congress), and captures the change in tone from the Democratic-controlled Congress to the Republican-led. It contains several useful appendices which provide a useful view of the security situation in the Taiwan Strait, as well as the positions of the Taiwan Government and the Clinton Administration. I was interested in what some specific Congressmen had said, and an index of names made that easy to determine. It isn't easy or light reading, but useful for those trying to analyze the interaction of Congress, the Administration, and our foreign policy in a critical part of the world