• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Washington Post
March 31, 2000
Pg. 29

By Jesse Helms

Chen Shui-bian's election as president of the Republic of China on Taiwan dramatically and instantly raised the stakes for U.S. policy in the Taiwan Strait.

Lee Teng-hui's election in 1996 was the first direct, popular election of a head of state in Chinese history. President-elect Chen's election marks the first peaceful transfer of power from a ruling Chinese party to its democratic opposition.

Taiwan's democratic transformation, begun by President Lee, is complete. The Republic of China's experiment in democracy is no longer an experiment--it is a proven reality. The nation that was known for the better part of 40 years as "Nationalist China" now is "Democratic China."

No wonder Beijing feels so threatened.

Beijing is worried about the precedent that the people of Taiwan have set. For the past decade, mainland officials have justified their tyrannical rule by dismissing Taiwan's democracy as a ruse. The Nationalists (they told people on the mainland) have held power for 40 years, just as we have held power for 40 years.

No longer. Taiwan's democracy can never again be dismissed so easily, and Beijing is nervous that people on the mainland may now begin to ask: "What about us?" That is why, in the days leading up to Taiwan's election, mainland officials sought desperately to scare Taiwanese voters into rejecting Chen. Premier Zhu Rongji went so far as to warn the people of Taiwan that if they elected Chen, they "won't get another opportunity to regret." The people of Taiwan told Zhu what he could do with his threats. Now it is the United States' responsibility to ensure that Zhu can never fulfill his threat to make Chen's election the final democratic election in China.

For eight years, the Clinton administration has tried to buy peace in the Taiwan Strait by kowtowing to the Chinese Communists and suggesting incredibly that Hong Kong and Macau could serve as models for Taiwan's reunification. Beijing's response has been to engage in a massive military buildup aimed at Taiwan and issue new threats against the island, dramatically lowering the bar for an armed invasion. Yet the administration sticks doggedly by its Chamberlainesque approach, promising this year to reward China's belligerent behavior by seeking permanent most favored nation status for China, while doing absolutely nothing to recognize Taiwan's achievements or help Taiwan deter Chinese aggression.

Those who support economic engagement with China must recognize the Clinton policy for what it is--appeasement. Continuing it in the wake of Chen Shui-bian's election is a recipe for disaster. We must have a new approach. Such a new U.S. approach to Taiwan must have two dimensions: a security dimension, designed to close off Beijing's avenues to destructive behavior; and a political dimension, which recognizes Taiwan's democratic development and seeks to bring Taiwan out of its international isolation.

A new policy must also recognize that the military balance of power of the past 20 years--when it was widely assumed that Taiwan had air superiority and could thereby thwart any attempted invasion or blockade by the mainland--is quickly shifting in Beijing's favor. China is adding 50 missiles a year along the coast of Taiwan in preparation for an attack, and has just begun acquiring Russian destroyers armed with advanced "sunburn missiles." According to the Pentagon, within five years China will have attained air superiority over Taiwan, and will be capable of enforcing a blockade of the island.

The United States must make clear to Beijing that there is no military option in dealing with Taiwan by (1) approving Taiwan's full defense request, including AIM-120 air-defense missiles, diesel submarines and Aegis destroyers with early warning radars; (2) sharing theater missile defense technology with the aim of bringing Taiwan under a regional missile-defense umbrella; (3) passing the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act, which will junk antiquated restrictions prohibiting senior U.S. officers from visiting Taiwan, expand the advice our experts can give them and establish direct, secure communications between our two militaries.

The United States can help Chen restart the cross-strait dialogue only by allowing Taiwan to engage the mainland on the basis of peace through strength. A renewed dialogue with Beijing can be successful only if it is undertaken on the basis of political strength as well. Just as East and West Germany were part of "one Germany," they were nonetheless separate "states." The same holds true for the two Korean states and for the two Chinese states--the People's Republic of China in Beijing and the Republic of China on Taiwan.

Accepting this objective reality does not require abandoning the possibility of reunification. Just as the two German states eventually reunited under democracy, so too do we hope that the two Chinese states may one day reunite--under democracy.

Until then, the United States can no longer continue a policy pretending that the 22 million people of Taiwan do not exist. The United States must recognize the reality of two Chinese states by championing Taiwan's gradual entry, alongside Communist China, into international organizations, such as the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization and eventually the United Nations.

Chen Shui-bian's election should serve as a wake-up call to the United States and the world: "Democratic China" has arrived and demands recognition.