Vice President Annette Lu (
Lu, who arrived in Houston Saturday evening for a three-day transit stay en route to a Central America diplomatic tour that will take her to El Salvador and Guatemala, made the appeal in a speech delivered at a dinner given in her honor by major Taiwanese associations in Texas.
The dinner happened to coincide with the passage of the "anti-secession" law by China's rubber-stamp parliament -- the National People's Congress -- in Beijing before the conclusion of its 10-day annual plenary session.
Lu said the legislation is actually a "war authorization law."
Lu said the law is "not a law," but rather a political statement aimed at forcing Taiwan to accept its "one China" principle as the ultimate means to unification.
By enacting the law, Lu said, Beijing has unequivocally revealed a move to unilaterally alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.
As China is a member of the UN Security Council, Lu said, the UN should condemn China over its stark violation of the UN Charter, which she said bans the use of force in resolving international disputes.
The vice president also urged the US to show moral courage by denouncing the "anti-secession" law, which Lu said runs against the fundamental US premise of a peaceful solution to cross-strait disputes under which it established diplomatic ties with China in 1979.
On Sunday, Lu had lunch with a group of pro-Taiwan lawmakers at a Texas-style steakhouse in downtown Houston visited by President Chen Shui-bian (
Later in the day, she attended a rodeo at Reliant Park -- the world's largest cowboy showground and American football stadium.
Lu was accorded high-level courtesies, circling around the giant stadium aboard an open-topped limousine and being introduced to a full house as "Taiwan's vice president."
Wearing a cowboy hat, Lu waved to the crowd and received a resounding two-minute welcome. Many Taiwanese expatriates were surprised and excited by Lu's unexpected appearance. The show was also broadcast live to 52 countries.
Meanwhile, China's consulate in Houston mobilized a group of Chinese expatriates and students in Texas to demonstrate outside the restaurant where Lu dined with representatives of the Taiwanese community in the southern US state.
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