DATE=3/23/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=US - TAIWAN - CHINA
NUMBER=5-45996
BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE
DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
Intro: Foreign policy experts in the United States
are calling on the Clinton administration to reassess
its policy toward China and Taiwan. President Clinton
has indicated there would be no change in policy
following the election of Chen Shui-bian as Taiwan's
next President. But annalysts say the time has come to
modify the U-S stand toward the region to reflect what
they say are political reality there. Correspondent
Deborah Tate explains in this background report.
Text: U-S policy toward China and Taiwan has not
changed since the 1970's, when Washington normalized
ties with Beijing, broke off relations with Taipei -
and agreed to encourage eventual reunification.
The United States has maintained a one-China policy,
recognizing Beijing as the sole government, and
pursuing a strategy known as `strategic ambiguity', in
which Washington refuses to specify the circumstances
under which it would defend Taiwan from Chinese
military force. It supplies Taiwan with weapons it
needs to defend itself, but refrains from selling the
island offensive arms. At the same time, the United
States appeals to Beijing and Taipei to resolve their
differences through peaceful dialogue.
In recent years, the policy has been criticized as
`outdated' by foreign policy observers in the United
States and from members of the Republican majority in
Congress.
Earlier this month, the number two Republican in the
House of Representatives, Majority Whip Tom Delay of
Texas, said the one-China policy does not reflect `the
new reality' in the region: a free and democratic
Taiwan, and a China which he described as neither
free, nor democratic, and a global security threat.
Joseph Bosco, an adjunct professor in the Asian
Studies department at Georgetown University here in
Washington, agrees:
// Bosco actuality //
Circumstances have changed dramatically in the
Taiwan Straits, the nature of the
administration, the regime if you will, in
Taiwan is entirely different. We had an
authoritarian dictatorship under Chiang Kai-
shek and his immediate successor that has
evolved dramatically, partly under U.S.
tutelage, to a flourishing democracy. So we
have an entirely different situation.
Meanwhile, on the mainland, although there has
been great progress economically, politically
there is still a Leninist regime, which has not
evolved, has not democratized. Each time it
made moves in that direction it suddenly lurched
back into the kind of repressive system that we
have seen.
// end act //
Critics - troubled by Beijing's recent threats to use
force against Taiwan, even if necessary to achieve
reunification - say the one-China policy has failed to
ease tensions in the Taiwan straits.
In 1996, the United States sent two aircraft carrier
groups to the region after China fired missiles into
waters near Taiwan ahead of elections on the island
that year. Beijing considers the island a renegade
province.
With the election of Mr. Chen in Taiwan, observers
believe there is an opportunity for the United States
to - at the very least - clarify its one-China policy.
Professor Bosco:
// Bosco actuality //
Over the years, our position has eroded from one
of neutrality over that issue, to accepting
China's position that it is the one China, that
the People's Republic of China has the right to
govern Taiwan. This to me is serious erosion of
what the one-China policy was originally.
// end act //
Professor Bosco says the United States should also
make clear it would come to Taiwan's defense if the
island came under attack by Beijing - in his words,
replace the policy of `strategic ambiguity' with
`strategic clarity'.
/// opt/// Mr. Bosco advocates expanding military ties
with Taiwan. The House of Representatives last week
passed the Taiwan Enhancement Security Act, which
would do just that. The Senate has yet to act on the
measure, but the Clinton administration has indicated
the President will veto it - arguing it is too
provocative to Beijing.///end opt///
Professor Bosco dismissed concerns of supporters of
current policy who believe a clear commitment by the
United States to defend Taiwan against Chinese attack
would destroy U-S - Sino relations.
/// opt/// Such ties are already strained over
concerns about Beijing's human rights record,
allegations of Chinese espionage on U-S nuclear
laboratories, and last year's accidental Nato bombing
of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade.///end opt///
// Bosco actuality //
There are such strong reasons why we should have
a healthy bilateral relationship, certainly
stronger reasons on China's side than ours.
They benefit far more than we do on the trade
relationship, so it is hard to see that China
would cut off its nose despite its face by
breaking off relations or curtailing trade
simply because they disagreed with our
commitment to Taiwan.
// end act //
Trade is one area where Professor Bosco and the
Clinton administration agree. Mr. Bosco says it would
be a mistake for the United States to withhold
permanent normal trade status for Beijing, echoing the
administration line that the best way to foster
democratic change in China is by integrating it into
the world economy.
/// opt /// U-S officials are concerned that Beijing's
recent threats against Taiwan may make an already
reluctant Congress even more hesitant to extend normal
trade ties on a permanent basis - a key step toward
China's entry into the World Trade Organization.
///end opt///
Besides expanding trade, observers believe Washington
also can promote change in China by highlighting
Taiwan's democratization in its dialogue with Beijing.
Bates Gill is a senior fellow at the Brookings
Institution here in Washington.
// Gill actuality //
We need to begin the process of dialogue with
China to integrate more effectively the changes
that have taken place on Taiwan, and facing them
more realistically. Avoiding the obvious or
pretending the democratization process has no
bearing on the situation or that somehow we can
ignore these changes is wrong-headed and is more
likely to lead us to disillusionment and
conflict in the years ahead. The sooner we can
make clear to Beijing that we intend to take the
democratization process seriously in Taiwan and
convey to Beijing our interest in finding ways
to integrate it into our dialogue, the better.
// end act //
Mr. Gill denies that such a move would encourage
Taiwan to proclaim independence, thereby sparking war
with China.
// Gill actuality //
I think it is wrong-headed to believe that
democratization and Taiwan independence are one
and the same. They are not. Clearly, we have
seen the democratization process occurring in
Taiwan for the past 10-15 years, which has not
led yet to the independence of Taiwan. I will
grant that it has forced all parties to think
more flexibly about what the one-China policy
means, and think more imaginatively about how
that framework can be preserved at its broadest
level, while still accomodating Taiwan's
democratic process, and its well-deserved
strengthened stature on the international stage.
But I do not think they are mutually exclusive.
// end act //
Mr. Gill notes that since his election Mr. Chen has
sought to distance himself from the idea of
independence for Taiwan, and that China, too, has
softened its rhetoric toward Taiwan.
In an effort to keep tensions at bay, Mr. Clinton sent
U-S Ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke
to Beijing to try to encourage a resumption of a
cross-strait dialogue. Former Congressman Lee
Hamilton, now head of the Woodrow Wilson International
Center for Scholars, at the request of Mr. Clinton,
delivered a similar message to Taipei. (signed)
Neb/dat/PT
23-Mar-2000 18:49 PM EDT (23-Mar-2000 2349 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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