20050610

Bush says US will defend Taiwan if China starts a war

STAFF WRITER , WITH DPA AND CNA, TAIPEI AND WASHINGTON

Friday, Jun 10, 2005,Page 1

US President George W. Bush said again yesterday that the US would defend Taiwan if China invaded.

When asked in an interview with the Fox News TV Channel, "Do we [the US] still stand by an agreement, Mr. President, that if Taiwan is ever invaded, we will come to the defense of Taiwan?" Bush said: "Yes, we do. It's called the Taiwan Relations Act."

Bush also said he believed that "time will heal" the political dispute between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

"My attitude is that time will heal this issue. And therefore we're trying to make sure that neither side provokes the other through unilateral action," he said.

Bush explained that the US stance supported a "one China" policy based on the Three Communiques.

Moreover, Bush said, the US adhered to the Taiwan Relations Act, which meant that it opposed either side of the Taiwan Strait unilaterally changing the status quo.

"In other words, neither side will make a decision that steps outside the bounds of that statement I just made to you. If China were to invade unilaterally, we would rise up in the spirit of [the] Taiwan Relations Act. If Taiwan were to declare independence, it would be a unilateral decision that would then change the US equation," Bush added.

Asked about his views on US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's recent criticism of China's rapid military buildup despite not facing any threats in the region, Bush said the US-China relationship was a complex one.

"It is complex because we deal with each other on a variety of fronts. One front, of course, is our defense posture," he said.

When asked whether he trusted China, Bush said: "So far, I do. We'll see ... time will tell."

In response, the Presidential Office yesterday said that its position was in sync with that of the US government, stating that, "Taiwan stands by safeguarding the peaceful status quo across the Taiwan Strait, and that the solution to cross-strait issues must be resolved via peaceful means."

What the international community should pay attention to, the Presidential Office said, is whether or not China uses "non-peaceful means" to alter the cross-strait status quo in the wake of enacting the "Anti-Secession" Law in March.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also welcomed Bush's affirmation of Washington's pledge that the US would help defend Taiwan if it were attacked by China.

"We welcome President Bush's reiteration of the US government's stance. He means that to achieve peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, all Pacific-rim nations must make an effort," Foreign Ministry spokesman Michel Lu said.

Lu said Bush sent a clear message to both sides of the Taiwan Strait that neither side should alter the status quo.

"We will not seek independence. Our constitutional reforms are a domestic issue which will not lead to Taiwan declaring independence. President Chen Shui-bian has promised this many times," he said.

US intelligence `missed' PLA advances

AFP , WASHINGTON

A highly classified report said US intelligence agencies had failed to recognize more than a dozen key military developments in China in the past decade, the Washington Times said yesterday.

The report, drawn up by current and former intelligence officials, blames Chinese secrecy for part of the failures, but also US intelligence agents for not gathering solid information on the Chinese military and for not planting agents in the communist government, officials familiar with the report told the daily.

The study, parts of which will be included in the Pentagon's annual report to Congress on the Chinese military to be released later this month, highlighted failures to notice the following aspects of China's military buildup:

* The development of a new long-range cruise missile, and of a new warship equipped with a stolen Chinese version of the US AEGIS battle management technology.

* The deployment of a new attack submarine known as the Yuan class; of precision-guided munitions, including new air-to-ground missiles and new, more accurate warheads; and of surface-to-surface missiles.

* The importation of advanced weaponry, including Russian submarines, warships and fighter-bombers.

The secret report, produced for the new director of national intellingence, John Negroponte, appears to unfairly target intelligence operators, its critics said, and to exonerate intelligence analysts, who for the past 10 years dismissed or played down intelligence on China's military buildup.

"Since no nation threatens China, one wonders: why this growing investment? Why these continuing large weapons purchases?"

He said the soon-to-be-released Pentagon study concludes that China's defense budget is now the largest in Asia and the third-largest in the world.

China's foreign ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, on Tuesday rejected Rumsfeld's claims as "totally groundless," saying that the small increases in defense spending in recent years was dedicated mostly to "the improvement of the living conditions of the officers and soldiers."

"China has not the intention nor the capability to drastically increase its military buildup," Liu said.

A Chinese diplomat who quit his consular post last month and demanded asylum in Australia will not be sent home, a senior minister said yesterday, as Australian Prime Minister John Howard insisted burgeoning trade ties with Beijing would not influence the case.

Chen Yonglin, the former first secretary at the Chinese consulate in Sydney, has been in hiding since his initial request for asylum was rebuffed by immigration officials late last month.

Australian officials have refused to say whether Chen would be granted a protection visa, sparking charges from opposition parties that the government was putting growing trade relations with China before human-rights concerns in dealing with the diplomat.

Chen, 37, who also wants asylum for his wife and six-year-old daughter, has said he will be persecuted if returned to Beijing and would rather die than be forced to continue in his work back home.

But Health Minister Tony Abbott, a senior member of Howard's Cabinet, said yesterday that Chen would not be forced to return to China against his will.

"Mr. Chen is in Australia, he is being dealt with in accordance with the ordinary process of Australian immigration law, and he is at no risk of being sent back to China," Abbott said.

Speaking to reporters in Sydney, Howard said that Chen's case had nothing to do with Canberra's relationship with Beijing, now at its closest point after the two countries' agreed in April to work towards a free-trade agreement.

The Australian Greens, who are providing Chen with legal assistance, said the government would prefer the diplomat applied for a protection visa rather than the rarely granted territorial asylum -- for fear of offending China.

"I have no doubt that in their conversations with the Chinese embassy and in trying to play this down with the Chinese government, they [the government] feel it will be less of an affront to China if some other form of visa is offered," Greens Senator Bob Brown told ABC radio.

In a letter to the government in which he appeals for political asylum, Chen said he was tormented by nightmares during the four years he worked at the consulate, where his main job was monitoring Chinese dissidents, including the Falun Gong meditation group.

"My spirit is severely distressed for my sin of working for the unjustified authority in somewhat evil way, and my hair turns white quickly in the last four years for frequent nightmares," Chen wrote.

"If I return to China, I may continue to be in charge of Falun Gong affairs for my experience in dealing with Falun Gong, and I would rather die than be forced to do so," he wrote.

Chen, who quit his post weeks before he was due to return to China, said he feared his replacement would discover that he had been helping members of Falun Gong, which the Chinese government has termed an "evil cult," and would be persecuted as a result.

He wrote that Falun Gong "may be a cult but its practitioners are a social vulnerable group and innocent people. They need help but no prosecution."

Australian intelligence officers are investigating claims made by Chen, and by a second Chinese man seeking asylum who said he was a member of China's security forces, that Beijing has some 1,000 spies and informants in Australia.

RULE OF POLITICS: Chen Yonglin's life would be in danger if forced to return to China, but Australia may avoid heat by sending him elsewhere, specialists said

"According to international law, all countries should provide assistance to asylum seekers on humanitarian grounds. What Australia has done is not only improper, but also shameful."

A Chinese diplomat's bid for asylum in Australia is being closely watched in Taiwan.

If Canberra grants asylum to Chen Yonglin, a first secretary in the Chinese consulate-general in Sydney who went into hiding two weeks ago, carefully established ties with Beijing may be at risk, China watchers in Taiwan said yesterday.

"Australia is very concerned about its ties with China. I don't think Australia will risk its ties with Beijing by granting asylum to Chen. But it may let him go to a third country," said Alexander Huang, a China expert at Tamkang University.

Since Cold War days, several Western nations have granted asylum to Chinese diplomats, triggering strong protests and retaliation from Beijing.

Chen, 37, claimed his job was to spy on Chinese dissidents, Tibetan exiles and Taiwanese in Australia and said he was defecting because he could no longer support Beijing's persecution of dissidents.

He claims that China has 1,000 agents working in Australia, where they are kidnapping Chinese dissidents and forcibly repatriating them to China.

Chinese Ambassador to Australia Fu Ying dismissed Chen's claim that he spied on Chinese dissidents and would face persecution if he returned home.

She said Chen fabricated the story so that he can stay in Australia as his four-year posting is coming to an end.

Chen's claim that he will face persecution if he returns to China is valid, according to a former Chinese official who defected to the US in 1989 and who now lives in Taiwan.

"Chen Yonglin's life would certainly be in danger because China is not ruled by law and it can drum up any charge against Chen," Ruan Ming, former secretary to late Chinese Communist Party secretary-general Hu Yaobang, said during phone conversation.

Ruan fled China following the Tiananmen Square Massacre and is now serving as an adviser for the think tank Taiwan Research Institute.

If Chen is sent back to China he is likely to face treason charges, which carries a maximum life sentence.

Australia's handling of Chen's asylum bid is "shameful", according to Su Yung-chin, professor of law at National Chengchi University.

"According to international law, all countries should provide assistance to asylum seekers on humanitarian grounds. What Australia has done is not only improper, but also shameful," he said.

Taiwan welcomed Chinese defectors in the Cold War days, but stopped doing so in the late 1980s as cross-strait tensions thawed.

Since 1990, Taiwan has repatriated 12 Chinese plane hijackers to China and rejected the asylum requests from several Chinese pro-democracy activists, but helped them seek asylum in a third country.

A third country may be Chen's best hope, as Canberra weighs granting him political asylum and its diplomatic ties with China.

Vice President Annette Lu yesterday called on the nation's women's groups to be wary of Chinese "united front" tactics following recent requests for data from their Chinese counterparts.

Lu was referring to requests recently faxed to the women's groups from the National Chinese Women's United Association asking for information or photos documenting their participation in the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, which was held in Beijing.

The association said the information would be used for an exhibition it is planning for later this year to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 1995 conference.

Lu had asked the Ministry of the Interior's Department of Social Affairs to scrutinize the event so that local women's groups would not, in submitting any information, "unknowingly be included as China's women's groups."

The ministry subsequently issued letters to women's groups suggesting that "it is inappropriate" to send information to the association.

In other news, Lu will today address participants at the Asia-Pacific regional meeting of the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU) in Tokyo via teleconference.

The DPU is Lu's brainchild and aims to serve as a platform for personnel and resource exchanges around the Pacific Rim.

Today's meeting, jointly organized by the Taiwan-based DPU Coordinating Office and the Japan-Taiwan Parliamentary Amity Association, is expected to be attended by more than 100 lawmakers and representatives from Taiwan, South Korea, the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Chaired by Lu and Takeo Hiranuma, head of a pro-Taiwan parliamentary group in the Japanese Diet, the meeting will focus on "Asian civilization" and technological developments.

Lu had previously said that she would address the meeting via teleconference instead of traveling to Japan in person in order not to place undue pressure on the Japanese government.

The DPU will be formally established in Taipei on Aug. 14, which will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Members of the political and academic spheres as well as representatives of civic groups from more than 20 countries will attend the organization's inauguration, Lu said.

LUNCHEON TALK: Only two members of the Legislative Yuan's National Defense Committee , both from the DPP, showed up for a luncheon hosted by AIT

The deputy director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday expressed concern over Taiwan's determination to defend itself, while reiterating the US' resolve to help the country.

"The arms-procurement project was requested by the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] administration and pursued by the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] government, but the procurement plan is still bogged down in the legislature," DPP Legislator Shen Fa-hui quoted AIT Deputy Director David Keegan as saying.

"Taiwan has to show its determination to defend itself," he quoted Keegan as saying.

Members of the legislature's National Defense Committee had been invited to attend a luncheon with Keegan yesterday. The luncheon was originally be scheduled to be hosted by AIT Director Douglas Paal.

Shen and fellow DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung were the only two to attend the reception. Opposition committee members, including KMT legislators Lu Hsiu-yen and Shuai Hua-ming and People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Yu-fang failed to show up, along with Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Ho Min-hao.

Shen said that he told Keegan that he did not expect the arms-procurement budget to pass the legislature until the KMT chairmanship election was over.

He said that Keegan had told him that there were variables in the political arena, including the KMT election, the just-passed constitutional amendments and the year-end elections.

"I told him that the crux of the problem lies in the attitude of opposition parties and that they might want to consider negotiating with opposition parties, especially the new KMT chairman, to solicit support for the budget," Shen said.

While the opposition agrees that national security is a priority, Shen said that the matter has become a political issue.

Shen said that Keegan was also curious about the impact the constitutional amendments may have on Taiwan's political climate. Shen said he told Keegan that one immediate difference might be the way lawmakers exercise their duties.

While grandstanding and wild talking may work now, Shen said lawmakers might in the future restrain themselves from adopting extreme and dramatic behavior and focus more on regional affairs in order to court voters in the center.

Shen said that although he understood the opposition's decision not to attend the luncheon, they missed a great opportunity to discuss the arms issue with one of the highest-ranking US representatives in the country.

Shen said Keegan expressed regret over some media interpretations of the lunch as some kind of plot.

Tension is mounting between Taiwan and Japan over a fishing dispute. On Wednesday, nine Taiwanese fishing boats traveled to near the Diaoyutai cluster, approximately 130km northeast of Suao, to surround a Japanese patrol boat in protest. The two sides faced off for around an hour until Taiwan's coast guard intervened.

Yesterday the dispute was continuing with around 50 Taiwanese boats staging a protest in the area.

At the root of this dispute are the overlapping territorial claims of Taiwan and Japan. Most of the waters to Taiwan's east are claimed by Japan, and fishing boats from Taiwan are often expelled by Japanese patrol boats as soon as they enter the area.

The frustration of Taiwan's fishermen is understandable. Last month alone, Taiwanese fishing boats were expelled from the region five times. The Japanese government has repeatedly shown that it is prepared to adopt strongarm tactics to defend its interests.

Earlier this month, two officers with the Japanese coast guard boarded a South Korean fishing vessel to warn the boat away from waters over which Japan and South Korean are in dispute. The two Japanese officers were taken back to South Korea before being released by the South Korean government.

A few years ago, a Taiwanese fishing boat in disputed waters was chased by a Japanese patrol boat for an hour, during which the two vessels collided on at least six occasions. The fishing boat was finally stopped and the Taiwanese fisherman detained for more than three months by the Japanese government. They received a hefty fine and a jail term, but were released on probation.

These ocean pursuits and posturing are, of course, extremely dangerous. It is regrettable that Taiwanese fishermen, who are simply trying to make a living, must be placed in this kind of danger. It is even more regrettable that their campaign yesterday placed them in a situation that could get wildly out of control.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already lodged a protest with the Japanese government, and has requested that the two governments engage in a new round of negotiations relating to fishing problems. State-to-state negotiations through diplomatic channels are of course the preferred channel for dialogue and are in fact the only way to resolve disputes of this sort.

Japan remains a critically important ally. Both governments should resolve this issue in a rational and civilized manner. In particular, it should be pointed out that international law requires countries with overlapping territorial claims to negotiate. If Taiwan's government does not become more actively involved in dealing with the dispute and instead leaves it to the fishermen to handle, the problem will only worsen.

Taiwan has had fishing disputes with other countries in the past. However, the government's efforts to address this problem through political and diplomatic channels have more often than not led nowhere.

It is therefore high time for the government to demonstrate its determination and ability to protect the rights of its own citizens.