On December 15, 1978, US President Carter abruptly declared the switching of diplomatic recognition from the ROC to the PRC.  This switch shocked all of Taiwan as well as Taiwanese American communities.  Many Americans who cared for the US and her international relationships were also shocked.  Fortunately, less than 4 months later on April 10, 1979, the US Congress passed a new Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).  This Act effectively bridged and sustained the suddenly interrupted US-Taiwan relationship.  Furthermore, Section II-c of this new TRA included an important and affirmative paragraph concerning Taiwan’s Human Rights.  This paragraph says: “Nothing contained in this chapter shall contravene the interest of the United States in human rights, especially with respect to the human rights of all the approximately eighteen million inhabitants of Taiwan.  The preservation and enhancement of the human rights of all the people on Taiwan are hereby reaffirmed as objectives of the United States.”  This paragraph has been highly acclaimed by many as the Taiwan Human Rights paragraph in the TRA.

　Many activists who subsequently struggled for Taiwan’s democratization in the soon to occur Kaohsiung Incident, credited the TRA’s Human Rights paragraph with effectively compelling Chiang Chin-Kuo, then KMT’s party chief and Taiwan’s tyrannic President, to “grant” an open trial to the arrested activists, thereby saving many of their lives.  I also heard many who said that the existence of TRA’s Human rights paragraph substantially emboldened Taiwanese freedom fighters to more courageously stand out to protest Chiang’s dictatorial rule to fight for Taiwan’s democratization.  Therefore, replacing US-ROC diplomatic relationship with the TRA might have actually expedited Taiwan’s democratization process.  I, thus, believe it important for me to recall my one particular effort relating to my concern for Taiwan’s human rights violation 30 years ago.  That effort led me to a people-to-people diplomatic action that may have encouraged the inclusion of the Human Rights paragraph in the 1979’s TRA.  Hopefully, it may inspire Taiwanese Americans today to exert more efforts in doing more people-to-people diplomatic efforts to save Taiwan from being further betrayed and encroached upon by China.

　When Carter ceased US recognition to ROC in 1978, I was working at P&G.  Mr. Owen Bradford Butler (nicknamed Brad), then the P&G’s vice chairman of the board, was one of the concerned citizens worried about how this sudden change might affect mutual interests between the US and Taiwan.  He was also the Chairman of the policy/program committee of the National Association of Manufacturers.  Under this capacity, he quickly formed a fact-finding group including congressmen, a senator, a state legislator, the lieutenant governor, and individuals from religious, educational, veteran, and business organizations. He led this group on a one week fact-finding visit to Taiwan.  Upon his return, Mr. Butler wrote and published a very thorough trip report entitled “U.S. cannot negotiate Taiwan out of existence” On 2/7/1979 Cincinnati Enquirer.

　Besides accounting the details of their Taiwan trip, Mr. Butler’s article suggested and recommended how best for the US to continue and to sustain US-Taiwan’s mutual relationships, which had been elaborately built up in past years.  I quickly responded to his article with a two-page letter.  Besides commending his concerns about the future US-Taiwan’s relationships, my letter also pointed out that the places they had visited and the people they had met in Taiwan were mostly pre-arranged by the KMT Regime. This meant that their visit did not allow them to truly see and understand the real views of the majority of the Taiwanese people.  My letter also gave a brief Taiwan history emphasizing the stark human rights violation of KMT against 85% of the island nation’s Taiwanese population.  As academic proof for my arguments, I attached a recent article by John Cantwell entitled, “Myth of Retaking the Mainland Still Fuels Taiwan’s Repression”.  I also mentioned my wish to meet with him to provide him more of the documents and materials related to what I described.  Soon after my letter, I was excited to receive his invitation to lunch together on Feburary 27 of 1979.

　At that time, I was working hard, through the Formosan Association for Human Rights (FAHR), in caring for and helping Taiwan’s prisoners of conscience.  I prepared many materials related to KMT’s human Rights violations and brought them with me to present to Mr. Butler.  We had a very pleasant lunch for about two hours at Queen City Club where Mr. Butler treated me with a gorgeous lunch that day.

　During lunch, I almost over-enthusiastically and a little bit nervously threw him case after case of the KMT’s human rights violation in Taiwan.  From 1947’s 228 massacre to more recent cases of Pai Ya-Tsan, Chen Min-Chong, Yen I-Mo, Huang Hua, Yang Chin-Hai, Wang Sing-Nan, Shi Ming-te etc.  In response, Mr. Butler repeatedly promised that he would ask Ohio Congressman Gradison to add a Human Rights paragraph into the draft of the new Congressional resolution related to the future US-Taiwan Relation.

　Mr. Butler urged me to understand the hardships of the KMT government and defended the ROC a bit.  He also contested my letter by saying that the visiting group to Taiwan had met people in religious and civilian commerce arenas.  He further claimed to have met one relatively young businessman who told him that the real future for Taiwan is to become an Independent Country.  After further inquisition, I believe it was at a dinner party given by Kuo Chin-Fu (a distingushed Taiwanese business tycoon) and the young businessman may have been one of Kuo’s sons.  At the end of our lunch, before departing, Mr. Butler once again told me that he would ask Congressman Gradison to include either an addendum or in preamble, a paragraph requesting for Human Rights improvement for Taiwan in the soon to be drafted Taiwan Relations Law.

　Finally, the TRA emerged, and it indeed has a very powerful Taiwan Human Rights paragraph.  Soon after, the Kaohsiung Incident happened later that year on December 10, 1979.  I continued to send Taiwan Human Rights violation-related reports and materials to Mr. Butler.  I received a two page letter from him dated January 24, 1980.  In his letter, he said he would do his best, but emphasized his limited ability to help.  He seemed to advise me not to be excessively demanding. In his letter, Mr. Butler expressed his personal philosophy of avoiding excessive pursuit of “personal fulfillment.”  He reminded me there were worse human rights violations in many other Asian countries.

　Mr. Butler was 57 then (17 yeas my senior).  In my interaction with him, he gave me the impression he was a compassionate, yet conservative person of integrity.  Two years later (1981), he became Chairman of P&G and retired in 1986.  He continued to serve society after retirement by asserting and promoting equal opportunity for education to all mankind.  I also remember reading an article in Moonbeam (the P&G Magazine) reporting that he and his wife were raising bison after his retirement, because his ancestors killed too many bison.

　The US Government typically uses a “passive approach” to conduct Human Rights diplomacy.  30 years ago, in the case of the TRA, the US Government seemed to be acting against her tradition, adopting an “active approach” to actively include the Human Rights Paragraph into the TRA.  30 years later, I am still wondering whether my efforts did, indeed, have some bearing to the inclusion of the Human Rights paragraph in the TRA.  It made me wonder more if my efforts to inform Mr. Butler of Taiwan’s Human Rights violations at that time, who in turn encouraged Congressman Gradison, had a bearing on the final appearance of the Taiwan Human Rights Paragraph in the new TRA. If my efforts then, indeed, had some bearing to the appearance of the Human rights paragraph in the TRA, it may inspire Taiwanese American today to put out more efforts in doing more people-to-people diplomatic efforts to save Taiwan from being further betrayed and being encroached by China.