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      Removing Hostile PRC Missiles Would Allay Security Concerns

      In a recent Wall Street Journal interview, President Lee Teng-hui declared that any potential cross-strait arms race could in fact be headed off by Beijing. The president went on to assert that a decision by the PRC leadership to stand down the missiles deployed in the southeastern part of the Chinese mainland and aimed at Taiwan would have a crucial bearing on whether the ROC eventually decides to participate in a US-developed theater missile defense system for East Asia.

      Taiwan has no significant security concern other than that from a hostile mainland regime across the Taiwan Strait. As President Lee put it, "The major threat is the military threat from the PRC." Despite more than a decade of attempts by Taipei to reach out and improve cross-strait relations, Beijing refuses to renounce its often reiterated threat to resort to military force in backing up its specious claim of sovereignty over Taiwan. ROC officials have warned of a potential cross-strait security gap in the future as the mainland continues to rapidly build up its offensive capability by purchasing advanced weapons from Russia while Taiwan cuts military spending and concentrates on developing defensive armaments.

      Beijing has often attempted since the establishment of formal relations between the US and the PRC in 1979 to discourage the US from honoring its legal commitment to supply the ROC with weapons of a defensive nature as stipulated in the Taiwan Relations Act. The mainland has been outspoken in its criticism of any possibility that Taiwan might join the US's TMD project. The PRC's provocative missile "test-firings" off the coast of Taiwan during the ROC's first-ever direct presidential election in 1996 are a poignant reminder that some in Beijing do not rule out military adventurism. If the mainland regime wants to signal a change, "Deeds are more important than words," as President Lee sees it.

      Nevertheless, the President is upbeat about the prospects for closer ties with the mainland, citing democratic reforms in Taiwan over the past ten years and Taiwan's geopolitical importance in the Asia-Pacific region. However, until Beijing and Taipei overcome their differences, President Lee foresees a need for greater US support of Taiwan and for increased senior-level contact between Taipei and Washington.

      The June 25 editions of the Wall Street Journal and the Asian Wall Street Journal both carried reports on the interviews of President Lee Teng-hui and Vice President Lien Chan conducted by the Journal's Karen Elliott House and Russell Flannery.