More China kowtow:
U.S. mulls cutoff of military aid to Taiwan
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By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
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he Clinton administration has halted a visit to Taiwan by Pentagon officials and is considering a cutoff of U.S. military assistance as a sign of displeasure over Taipei's pro-independence comments, U.S. officials said yesterday.
"We postponed the delegation because of the recent situation," a senior administration official said.
But publicly President Clinton insisted yesterday that the United States would "take very seriously" any attempt by China to use force against Taiwan as a result of the dispute over the island's apparent move toward a two-China policy.
With tensions in the region high, Stanley Roth, assistant secretary of state for East Asia, will leave today for talks in China and Richard Bush, the U.S. representative to Taiwan, will travel to Taipei for talks.
The group of defense officials going to Taiwan was to have discussed air-defense cooperation, but the visit was called off to register administration anger over the policy shift, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The group would have included officials of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, Joint Staff and
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Office of the Secretary of Defense and would have included talks on how to counter China's growing short-range missile force.
China has launched a major propaganda campaign to avert U.S. help with missile-defense efforts in Asia, especially in Taiwan.
Additionally, plans to announce the sale to Taiwan of E-2 surveillance aircraft were put on hold because of heightened tensions between China and Taiwan, the officials said.
The Pentagon was set to notify Congress of the sale this week, which is the only time weapons sales to Taiwan are made public. But the sale is being delayed because of remarks by Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, the officials said. China opposes all U.S. arms sales that are allowed under the Taiwan Relations Act.
Further punitive steps against Taiwan, including a cutoff of spare parts deliveries for Taiwan's U.S.-made F-16 jets, also are being considered, the officials said.
"Taiwan is being punished," said one official.
The administration efforts are aimed at pressuring Taiwan into backing off recent statements by Mr. Lee about a new policy of seeking "state-to-state" talks with Beijing.
The statement was denounced by China as "splittist" and prompted threats by Beijing to use force against Taiwan. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province.
The decision to put off the air defense talks and plans for tougher steps were made by National Security Adviser Samuel R. Berger over the past weekend, the officials said.
On Capitol Hill, Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman, New York Republican and chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said the administration's actions raise concerns.
"I am very concerned about reports that the Clinton administration is planning to take actions which could undermine Taiwan's fundamental security due to its reported displeasure with President Lee's statement, and a desire to mend relations with Beijing," Mr. Gilman said. "Any action of this sort is not in the U.S. interest and could lead to instability across the Taiwan Strait."
The harder line toward Taiwan comes as Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright prepares to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jianxuan later this month at a meeting of Asian leaders in Singapore. It will be her first high-level meeting since NATO's May 7 bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, which disrupted U.S.-China ties.
Mr. Clinton told reporters at the White House that he reaffirmed the U.S. policy toward China during a telephone call Sunday with Chinese President Jiang Zemin in seeking to ease tensions in the region. He said he told the Chinese leader the United States is encouraging Taiwan to follow the so-called "one-China" policy.
"I made it clear our policy had not changed, including our view under the Taiwan Relations Act that we would take very seriously any abridgment of the peaceful dialogue" between China and Taiwan, Mr. Clinton said.
The president characterized his discussion with Mr. Jiang as "a very positive conversation, far more positive than negative."
Defense Secretary William S. Cohen told reporters the United States continues to back the "one-China" stance but also said "it's important that any discussion between China and Taiwan also be conducted in a peaceful fashion, and that there should be no military attempt to overwhelm or launch attacks against Taiwan."
Asked if the Pentagon planned to send additional Navy forces to the region, Mr. Cohen said, "Not at this time."
The aircraft carrier battle group led by the USS Kitty Hawk is currently in the Indian Ocean en route to Perth, Australia, for exercises.
In Taipei yesterday, Mr. Lee, the Taiwan president, made his first formal statement since the comments last week suggesting independence. Mr. Lee said he does not intend to declare Taiwan independent but continued to insist that relations between China and Taiwan should be based "on special state-to-state relations."
His remarks, apparently intended to calm the monthlong atmosphere of Chinese recriminations and lack of support internationally, instead served to refuel the controversy. He spoke to members of a Rotary Club in his Taipei office.
A government spokesman in Beijing repeated its warning that Taiwan is traveling a dangerous road. "We think that this is a very dangerous step," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told reporters yesterday.
"He has walked further and further away down the road of splitting the motherland," she said.
Chinese military officials denied a Hong Kong newspaper report that the People's Liberation Army had been placed on high alert and that troop movements were under way in southeastern provinces facing Taiwan.
"Troops are not on alert," said a spokesman for the Guangzhou military region. He said troops were undergoing "normal training."
China has threatened to break off the so-called cross-straits talks between representatives of China and Taiwan if the latter insists on state-to-state dialogue.
Mr. Lee said in Taipei that the remarks about statehood were needed to prepare the island for political talks with China. He said he was trying to stress their equal political status. "One China is not now. Only after we have democratic reunification shall there be the possibility of one China," he said.
Beijing officials have said Mr. Lee's comments made last weekend were a step toward a formal declaration of independence, which China has vowed to use force to stop.
In remarks made during an interview with a German radio reporter, Mr. Lee said Taiwan and China are dealing as two states in one country.
In his speech yesterday, Mr. Lee said Beijing refuses to face the reality of a divided China ruled by separate governments. That refusal, Mr. Lee said, has held back any chance of substantial progress between China and Taiwan.
"The notion that Taiwan is a local government, a rebel province, was the reason why there couldn't be a fundamental improvement in relations," he said.
"We will foster dialogue and negotiations with the Chinese communists on an equal footing," Mr. Lee said. "We will also strengthen our contacts with the international community to safeguard our survival and development."
Gus Constantine contributed to this report.
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