DATE=2/23/2000
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
TITLE=CHINA - TAIWAN
NUMBER=6-11696
BYLINE=ANDREW GUTHRIE
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
TELEPHONE=619-3335
CONTENT=
INTRO: There's a presidential election looming on
Taiwan, on March 18th, and, as U-S editorial pages see
it, that means it's saber-rattling time again in
Beijing.
The Chinese Communist government - still frustrated at
the pace of reunification talks - is threatening to
eventually use force if need be, to politically
reunite the island of Formosa with the mainland, just
as Hong Kong and Macao have been reunited. The implied
threats are not going over well with the U-S daily
press. W we get a sampling of reaction now from
________ in today's U-S Opinion Roundup.
TEXT: China has just released a rather bellicose
position paper on its view of relations with the
island of Formosa, on which the government of Taiwan
will soon hold a presidential election. China
essentially says it will not wait indefinitely for
Taiwan to rejoin the mainland, either freely or by
force.
The long-standing U-S policy on the issue of the two
Chinas is coming under increasing strain with this
latest broadside, and The Washington Post says perhaps
it's time for President Clinton to clarify U-S policy.
VOICE: On the issue of China's claim to Taiwan, the
Clinton administration, like its predecessors,
has pursued a policy of "strategic ambiguity."
The United States will provide the increasingly
democratic island just enough political and
military support to deter China from taking the
island by force; but it will not provide so much
that Taiwan's leaders feel emboldened to declare
independence, which could provoke China to start
a war that would almost certainly involve
American forces. This policy grows less tenable
as Taiwan gets more and more democratic and
China remains a dictatorship. ... The U-S
response to China's latest challenge should be
shaped, at a minimum, by the need not to say or
do anything that China could present to the next
administration as U-S acquiescence in its new
policy.
TEXT: That was the view of the Washington Post. As
far as The Sun in Baltimore is concerned, the latest
verbal assault, clearly aimed at intimidation, may
have unintended consequences.
VOICE: Beijing's new threat ... is likely to
boomerang as the last such effort did. In 1996,
China fired missiles to scare Taiwanese out of
voting for Lee Teng-hui for president. The
United States made a show of military support
and Mr. Lee won Taiwan's first free presidential
election. Now China threatens invasion, not
only if Taiwan declares independence, but [also]
if it does not get on with negotiating
unification. Mercifully, no deadline was
stated. ... In fact, U-S intelligence holds
that Beijing lacks the capability to invade
Taiwan, while developing capacity to inflict
damage. A war would derail China's economic
growth, the last thing it wants. Taiwan's
growing investment on the mainland increases the
two Chinas' interdependence. Beijing's
bellicosity may doom the prospect of permanent
normal trading relations with the United States.
TEXT: So writes the Sun of Baltimore. The tone of
the Chinese white paper, from the State Council,
China's cabinet, does not worry Hawaii's Honolulu
Star-Bulletin which sees it as calculated bluster.
VOICE: ... the policy paper was evidently timed to
affect campaigning for the election, but it's
unlikely to produce dramatic changes in the
candidates' positions. Public opinion on Taiwan
is strongly opposed to unification - - and
Taiwan, unlike China, is a democracy, with free
elections. ... The new policy statement from
Beijing must be considered a tactic of
psychological warfare rather than an indication
of a real intention to initiate an attack on
Taiwan.
TEXT: The Chicago Tribune is more upset and suggests
a response for the United States.
VOICE: China ... has upped the ante by lowering the
threshold for what it would consider a justified
use of force against Taiwan. Now Taiwan not
only must forego any move toward independence,
but it must negotiate on Beijing's timetable.
That's unacceptable. The Clinton administration
ought to respond in the most unequivocal manner
that threats of force, and the use of force
against Taiwan, also will not be tolerated. So
far, White House reaction ... hardly rises to
the level the occasion warrants.
TEXT: Calling China's white paper the latest incident
in "a dangerous pattern," The New York Times suggests
that the leaders in Beijing may have caused themselves
more trouble than they realize.
VOICE: China was wrong this week to threaten to use
force against Taiwan if the island's leaders
take too long to agree to reunite with the
mainland. By coupling that threat with an
attempt to deflect the blame to Washington for
increasing military tensions over Taiwan,
Beijing may have damaged its chances of winning
Congressional backing for China's entry into the
World Trade Organization.
TEXT: From the heartland of America, the Kansas City
Star is also concerned.
VOICE: China's outrageous saber-rattling over Taiwan
calls for an extremely tough response from the
United States. ... It may well be time to send
in the carriers again, and to squeeze China in
other ways as well. ... Past experience shows
that efforts to appease China are particularly
dangerous.
/// OPT ///
TEXT: While in Boston, the nationally-distributed
Christian Science Monitor sees this as a dangerous
move on the world chess board.
VOICE: Beijing has moved a big piece on the dangerous
gameboard of diplomacy with the United States.
It has told Taiwan, in essence, to seriously
negotiate reunification with the mainland or
face invasion. This new, more-specific threat
of force could just be a tactic to influence
Taiwan's election of a new president on March
18th. China wants voters on the island not to
vote for one candidate who has sought to
formally declare independence. If that's the
case, China has learned a lesson from a 1996
incident in which it shot missiles near Taiwan
just before an election, provoking a military
standoff with U-S warships. But the new threat
could be real, setting an unspecified timetable
for reunification. That should force Washington
to be less vague in its public commitment to
Taiwan's defense.
/// END OPT ///
TEXT: Lastly to Long Island, where New York's Newsday
wonders about Beijing's timing.
VOICE: Why is China doing this now, after signaling
for decades that it was willing to wait for
Taiwan to come back into the fold, just as it
waited a century for Hong Kong and even longer
for Macao? In part, it's because China worries
that Taiwan is moving ever closer to a
declaration of independence, with the political
movement for sovereignty expected to gain
strength in the March ... [election]...
TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of U-S
editorial opinion on the latest threats from China
toward the government of Taiwan.
NEB/ANG/
23-Feb-2000 15:23 PM EDT (23-Feb-2000 2023 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
