美国国会议员访台现象研究(1997-2008)

A Research on US Congress Members' Taiwan Visits(1997-2008)

台湾地区是美国国会议员访问最频繁的地区之一。本文分析了从1997年到2008年的美国国会议员访台记录分布及其决定因素,获得了如下主要发现:第一,美国国会议员访台频次变动受台湾岛内政治变动和美国国会选举周期影响,但以前者更为重要;第二,《与台湾关系法》赋予美国国会及其议员干预台湾问题的"权力",是造成美国国会议员、特别是外交事务、军事、情报等委员会成员频繁访台的根本原因;第三,意识形态、选区利益、经贸关系等对美国国会议员访台也产生了一定的影响。

Taiwan is frequently visited by members of the US Congress. This paper analyzes official records to uncover the distribution, frequency, and determining factors of their visits between 1997 and 2008. This analysis makes three main discoveries. First, there was a correlation between the frequency of the visits and the political change in Taiwan. To a lesser extent, there are also evidences to link US Congress elections calendar to these vis- its. Second, the intervening ＂power＂ entrusted to the US Congress and its members, through the ＂Taiwan Relations Act＂, was the most fundamental reason for these visits, especially those related to the issues of diplomacy, military and intelligence. Third, ideology, electoral interests and trade relations also contributed to the decisions for the visits.