DATE=8/4/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SENATE-CHINA-TAIWAN (L)
NUMBER=2-252488
BYLINE=DAVID SWAN
DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The Clinton administration is calling for
Congress not to deepen the crisis between China and
Taiwan by authorizing new arms sales to the island.
Correspondent David Swan reports, officials pressed
their case (Wednesday) while also urging restraint on
Beijing and Taipei.
TEXT: The administration is trying to head off a bill
allowing Taiwan to buy advanced U-S weapons, including
missile defenses, air-to-air missiles, and submarines.
Though the measure is far from becoming law, it has
already touched off angry rhetoric in Beijing.
In a Senate hearing (Wednesday), Assistant Secretary
of State Stanley Roth warned the measure could bring a
dangerous, if unprovoked, Chinese response against
Taiwan. He says the bill is narrowly focused on the
military balance, and ignores the broader picture.
// ROTH ACT //
A military solution alone for an island of 22-
million people facing a nation of one-point-
three-billion people is a rather difficult
proposition. And Taiwan's security is not
simply a matter or even primarily a matter of
hardware.
// END ACT //
Mr. Roth repeated calls for direct dialogue between
the sides and a peaceful solution to their disputes.
He denies suggestions the administration is punishing
or tilting against Taiwan. Republican Senator Jesse
Helms, sponsor of the bill to arm the Taiwanese, was
unpersuaded.
// HELMS ACT //
You know what you are saying to me in plain
language? This government is a bunch of
"nervous nellies" afraid that they will offend
mainland China. That is what I get out of all
of this. And I do not like it.
// END ACT //
Tension has been high since last month, when Taiwanese
President Lee Teng-Hui called for special state-to-
state relations with the mainland -- which considers
Taiwan a renegade province and has never ruled out
using force to reclaim it.
This week, China announced it successfully tested a
new long-range missile. Both sides have stepped up
air patrols in the narrow Taiwan Straits. (Signed)
NEB/DS/RAE
04-Aug-1999 13:38 PM EDT (04-Aug-1999 1738 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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