(From
L to R) George Tsai, President of Baily International,
Wilson Shen, President of the St. Louis Taiwanese
Association, Congressman John Shimkus, Elizabeth Chu, Director,
Taipei Economic and Culture Office in Kansas City,
Sandy Tsai, Publisher, St. Louis Chinese American
News, and Jenfei Fan, National Policy Advisor to the President,
Taiwan
By Prof. Chingchih Chen
President, Friends of Taiwan
The second annual celebration for Taiwanese American Heritage Week in Greater Saint Louis, which includes several towns on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, took place on May 4 in the Living World, Saint Louis Zoo. In addition to providing cultural displays and entertainment performances that attracted hundreds of visitors, the Saint Louis Chapter of Taiwanese Association of America also invited three-term Congressman John Shimkus, who represents the 20th district of Illinois to give a talk at the opening ceremony.
Mr. Shimkus graduated from the Military Academy at West Point in 1976. After graduation he trained as an Army Ranger and paratrooper. He is currently a lieutenant colonel in the US Army reserves. After leaving the Army in 1986, he taught government and history at Metro-East Lutheran High School in Edwardsville. In 1989, he entered local politics by winning his first local elective office. In 1996, as a Republican he was elected to Congress and has been re-elected twice each time with more than 60% of votes cast in a predominant Democratic district. While his main contribution in Congress is his service on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, he also has paid attention to international affairs. He is running for his 4th term later this year.
The appearance of a prominent politician at the Taiwanese American Heritage Week celebration signifies the individual congressman's acknowledgement of the Taiwanese Americans' contribution to their adoptive country, the United States. The Taiwanese Americans, on the other hand, took advantage of the opportunity to show him their appreciation of his support for Taiwan symbolized by his joining the recently organized Congressional Taiwan Caucus, which has 97 congressional members at the last count.
During his brief speech, Representative Shimkus informed the enthusiastic audience that he is of Lithuanian descent and expressed his support for Taiwan's joining the World Health Organization. His Lithuanian background and Lithuania's reclaiming its independence from the recently collapsed Soviet Union evidently revealed the major reason for his being a member of the Congressional Baltic Caucus, which is only one of several congressional caucuses he is a member to.
After the opening ceremony, Mr. Shimkus kindly agreed to stay to have an informal gathering with about two dozens of Taiwanese Americans, including Mr. Wilson Shen, president of TAA-St Louis Chapter, Dr. Kun-Too Liao, president of FAPA-St. Louis Chapter, Dr. Shih-Chung Chang, Dr. Eli Shun Lin, and Mr. Kuo-hsiung Tsai. Also present were two visitors: Mr. Jen-Hui Fan, a national policy advisor to Taiwan's President Chen, and Ms Elizabeth Chu, director-general of Taipei Economic and Cultural (Representative) Office in Kansas City. During the subsequently half-hour question-and answer session, Mr. Shimkus confirmed that it is his firm belief in the values of liberty and democracy that helped to shape his decision to join the Congressional Taiwan Caucus.
Taiwan is not only one of Asia's most industrialized countries but also one of Asia's two most democratic and free countries, according to America's Freedom House. [The other is of course Japan.] The press of Taiwan is also widely known as one of Asia's most free. Taiwan's impressive achievement in democratic reforms is clearly the most important reason for President George W. Bush considering Taiwan as a "good friend" and for his repeatedly pledging the US commitment to help defend Taiwan. Representative Shimkus of course strongly support the Taiwan policy of President Bush. Mr. Shimlkus also explicitly expressed his support for Taiwan's joining the World Health Organization and the name change of Taipei Economic and Cultural (Representative) Office to Taiwan Office.
 
It is the consensus of the Taiwanese Americans present at the informal gathering that Representative Shimkus is the kind of Congressional candidate who deserves our whole-hearted support. |
