Washington, Sept. 26 (CNA) US Republican presidential hopeful Steve Forbes expressed Sunday his concern about Communist China's aggression toward Taiwan and stressed that he would "defend Taiwan" if Communist China invaded the island during his presidency.
"But the real question is, how do we prevent China from getting the notion that they could get away with an assault on Taiwan? And this (Clinton) administration has been very derelict in that respect. They're giving off very confusing signals. They're inviting a test. And that's how tragedies happen," Forbes pointed out in a wide-ranging interview on John McLaughlin's "One-on-One" program.
To prevent such an attack, Forbes said Washington must hold Beijing to an agreement it made almost 20 years ago not to use force against Taiwan. "That is leadership, is credibility. This administration lacks it, and I hope we don't have anything go wrong between now and January of 2001," when President Bill Clinton leaves office, added the Forbes magazine publisher.
To keep Communist China in line, he stressed, the United States must keep a presence in Asia and must criticize Beijing for human rights abuses. "And we want trade barriers reduced, not raised," said Forbes.
He also accused the Clinton administration of "abject appeasement" in its dealings with Communist China. When asked if he believes the White House has been "too concessionary" with Communist China "without getting reciprocal concessions," the wealthy publisher replied, "Concessionary is a mild word. Abject appeasement would be more accurate."
"They not only let China have virtually anything it wanted, but they turned a blind eye to espionage, turned a blind eye to other abuses; would say, 'We want to hold you to human rights' and then back off. They let China get away with transferring technology to rogue states around the world," Forbes added. (By Nelson Chung)
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