Taiwan, China, and
US Arms Sales
Lung-chu Chen
Recently,
Chinese leaders, including Premier Zhu Rongji and President Jiang Zemin,
have expressed strong oppositions to forthcoming U.S. sales of advanced
weapons to Taiwan. In their views, such sales would fortify Taiwan's
independence and could hasten China's preemptive attack on Taiwan.
As Chinese economy grows, China's expansionist militarism has become ever
more apparent, as exemplified by a huge increase in military budgets,
purchases of advanced weapons from Russia, expanded deployment of
missiles, and so on. The Chinese military expansionism has not only
heightened its threats on Taiwan, but also posed new threats to the United
States and Japan.
A peaceful settlement of the Taiwan-China disputs without recourse to
military force is mandated by U.N. Charter principles and expresses the
common desire of the 23 million people of Taiwan. Taiwan's efforts to
acquire advanced weapons are necessary for its own self-defense and
essential to the peace and security in the Taiwan Strait area. Living
under the shadow of China's constant threats to annex Taiwan under the
pretext of the so-called "one China" principle, Taiwan has no choice but
to equip itself for self-defense, both individual and collective.
It would appear that the best way for China to prevent U.S. sales of
advanced weapons to Taiwan is to remove those hundreds of missiles
targeting Taiwan and to renounce publicly the threat or use of force
against Taiwan. Chinese leaders could divert the resources thus saved for
peaceful and constructive purposes, to enhance the quality of life and
well-being of their own citizens. |