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Washington, Feb. 22 (CNA) Veteran US Senator Jesse Helms on Tuesday blasted Beijing over its white paper on the Taiwan issue and criticized the White House for its lukewarm attitude toward Taiwan's defense.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the Republican senator from North Carolina said he is "deeply concerned by today's revelations that Red China has escalated its threat of armed aggression against democratic Taiwan, lowering the threshold by which Beijing would justify an invasion of the island."

Helms was talking about Beijing's sternly worded white paper on the Taiwan issue, which warns Taiwan not to push for independence or indefinitely delay negotiations for peaceful unification at the risk of military invasion.

Meanwhile, Helms said he is "extremely disturbed" that "in light of these new and disturbing threats from Beijing, the Clinton administration has refused to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Wednesday on Taiwan's annual defense request."

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee originally scheduled a closed-door hearing on Taiwan's defense request for Wednesday and according to Helms, had filed a request with the State Department in writing on Jan. 21 that the Department cooperate by sending a "competent, well-informed witness" to testify at the hearing.

The proposed hearing, which has been unilaterally supported by the committee's members from both the Republican and Democratic parties, was described as an "upgrading" of consultations on Taiwan's cause between the legislature and the administration.

The hearing, however, was postponed indefinitely after the legislature and the administration failed to reach a consensus on participation.

In his statement, the apparently disappointed Helms said "I wonder what the problem is; Does the State Department have no one who is competent or well-informed? I am willing to conduct the hearing in closed session, but this committee needs and is entitled to know what the administration plans regarding Taiwan."

"I resent being brushed off at the last minute and I will bear in mind this experience the next time the State Department asks something of me," he said. (By Jay Chen and Deborah Kuo)