BEIJING SAID PRESSURING US TO SUSPEND ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN
Washington, Aug. 18 (CNA) Mainland Chinese President Jiang Zemin has written a letter to US President Bill Clinton demanding him to cease arms sales to Taiwan amid the controversy over the "special state-to-state relationship" theory.
According to reliable sources, Jiang sent the letter to Clinton between late July and early August. Jiang demanded in the letter that the United States cut arms sales to Taiwan and force Taipei to back off its "state-to-state" theory and start negotiations with Beijing under the so-called "one China" principle.
Informed sources told CNA that mainland China began to divulge this episode to Washington-based China affairs experts this week, indicating that Beijing authorities were disappointed by the Clinton administration's failure to give any positive response to Jiang's requests.
Douglas Paal, director of the Asia-Pacific Policy Research Center, a Washington-based think tank, said Jiang's demands reflected Beijing's concept or sentiment that the United States should be held responsible for Taipei's insistence on its statehood.
Paal, a former White House National Security Council official, said Beijing apparently still does not understand the US domestic political situation.
The noted China hand said it is hard for Clinton to accept Beijing's demands because he faces congressional pressure and has to take into consideration their possible impact on next year's US presidential election.
Paal said he is worrying that Beijing may tie the Clinton administration's response to Jiang's demands to the resumption of its bilateral negotiations with Washington on terms for its entry to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Such a link-up could make resumption of WTO talks even more difficult, he noted.
Beijing-Washington talks on WTO accession terms have been suspended since the US-led NATO mistakenly bombed the mainland Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May. The Clinton administration originally hoped that the upcoming informal leadership meeting under the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will help score a breakthrough to Beijing's WTO accession. Both Clinton and Jiang will attend the annual APEC summit meeting.
The White House neither confirmed nor denied the report that the mainland president has written to Clinton during the past month. It only said the two presidents can talk to each other whenever they want.
Clinton and Jiang once discussed the Taiwan Strait situation by telephone on July 18 amid escalation of cross-strait tension over the "special state-to-state" theory.
ROC President Lee Teng-hui said in an interview with a German radio station on July 9 that cross-strait ties are a "special state-to-state relationship," drawing furious reaction from Beijing which regards the definition as a move to promote Taiwan independence. (By Jay Chen and Sofia Wu)
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