Washington, Dec. 21 (CNA) Although the economic fortunes of many Asian nations began to brighten over the past year, long-festering standoffs continue to prevent the advancement of peace and stability in Asia, and the serious deterioration of relations across the Taiwan Straits marks perhaps the gravest threat to security in the region, according to a Washington-based think tank.
The Heritage Foundation wrote in its newly published "US and Asia Statistical Handbook 1999-2000" that the latest round in the decades-old tug-of-war over the sovereignty of Taiwan was set off in July 1999 when Taiwan's President Lee Teng-hui indicated that Taipei's relations with Beijing should be conducted on a "special state-to-state" basis.
The Communist leadership viewed President Lee's statement as tantamount to a declaration of independence and promptly instituted a campaign of intimidation against Taiwan.
In the face of tensions that threatened to spin out of control, the conservative think tank pointed out, "the Clinton administration remained strangely aloof, seemingly nonplused and offended by President Lee's statement of reality."
Instead of dispatching aircraft carrier battle groups to the area, as it had done in 1996 when missile tests by Communist China threatened to disrupt Taiwan's presidential election, the Clinton administration spoke of canceling all visits to Taiwan by US officials as well as shipments of defense-related spare parts, said the think tank.
The upshot of the administration's performance in the crisis, however , was to energize the US Congress once again to consider the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act (TSEA), which would authorize the sale of advanced defensive weaponry to Taiwan, such as satellite early warning data, missile defense systems, modern air defense equipment, said the foundation.
It stressed that the TSEA has gained support in Congress precisely because of growing doubts about the Clinton administration's willingness to live up to the letter and not the spirit of the Taiwan Relations Act, which requires the US to sell Taiwan sufficient defensive weapons for the island to provide for its defense.
Because Beijing has reacted harshly to congressional calls to step up efforts to provide for Taiwan's defense, warning against interference in mainland China's "domestic affairs," the debate over the TSEA is likely to become politically charged as it will be played out during the presidential campaign seasons in both Taiwan and the United States, said the think tank.
But the question of the US role in the defense of Taiwan is just one of a host of sticking points plaguing an already contentious US-PRC relationship, noted the foundation.
Relations were strained by the House Cox Committee's investigation into Beijing's theft of US nuclear weapons secrets. Then the accidental bombing by US planes of the Communist Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May 1999 sent US-PRC relations plummeting to depths unseen since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989, and perhaps since the Korean War in the early 1950s.
Tensions also persist over human rights concerns, as Beijing continues to crack down on religious leaders, Tibetans, and any other perceived threat to the dominance of the Communist Party, such as the Falun Gong meditation sect, added the think tank.
Even the ongoing efforts to bring mainland China into the World Trade Organization have increased frictions rather than eased them. The Communist Chinese were greatly offended when President Bill Clinton, reportedly for political reasons, rejected Premier Zhu Rongji's accession proposal and then publicly revealed Zhu's concessions.
Finally, The Heritage Foundation added, the large and growing US trade deficit with mainland China threatens to become yet another sore spot, especially if problems in other aspects of the overall relationship continue. (By Nelson Chung)
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