Beijing's nuclear missiles a concern, Rumsfeld says

AP , BEIJING

The expanding reach of China's nuclear missiles is worrisome to the US, which would like Chinese officials to be more open about their intentions, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday.

In a speech to the Academy of Military Sciences, Rumsfeld said nuclear capability is an area in which the US would like China to show more transparency.

"China ... is expanding its missile forces and enabling those forces to reach many areas of the world well beyond the Pacific region," Rumsfeld said. "Those advances in China's strategic strike capacity raise questions, particularly when there's an imperfect understanding of such developments on the part of others."

His statement echoed a theme he has pressed during his first visit to China since becoming defense secretary in 2001 -- that China's secretiveness creates international worries about its military intentions.

In his speech to the Academy of Military Sciences, Rumsfeld said many countries with an interest in the Asia-Pacific region are questioning China's military intentions.

While it is up to China to decide how much it wishes to say on the subject, "greater clarity would generate more certainty in the region," Rumsfeld said.

On Wednesday, the commander of China's nuclear missile forces reaffirmed to Rumsfeld that in an armed conflict China would not be the first to use nuclear weapons.

General Jing Zhiyuan, commander of the Second Artillery, which operates the country's growing arsenal of nuclear missiles, offered the assurance while hosting Rumsfeld as the first foreigner to visit his headquarters, according to two US officials who participated in the meeting.

Jing disavowed a public suggestion by another Chinese general earlier this year that the US could be targeted for a nuclear strike in the event that it intervened in a conflict over Taiwan.

Lee warns US of Chinese assault

By Charles Snyder

STAFF REPORTER IN WASHINGTON , WITH AFP

Former president Lee Teng-hui warned senior US congressional leaders that a Chinese military attack on Taiwan could take place within "a couple of years," congressional sources told the Taipei Times.

Lee made his comments in a meeting with the top two congressmen on the House International Relations Committee, chairman and Republican Representative Henry Hyde, and Democratic Representative Tom Lantos, during a closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, the sources said.

Lee's comments were part of a lengthy presentation to the two leaders outlining his views on the strategic challenges that are facing Taiwan, and the need for the US to recommit itself to maintaining Taiwan's security, two major themes of his four-day visit to Washington which began on Monday.

Lee told Hyde and Lantos, both strong supporters of Taiwan, that he was concerned about the threat of a Chinese attack in the medium term.

It was not immediately clear how the two congressmen reacted to his warning.

While Hyde mainly listened to the presentation, Lantos expressed great concern over the failure of the pan-blue-camp dominated legislature to approve funding for the package of weaponry that the Bush administration offered to Taiwan in 2001, the bulk of which is contained in a special budget that the pan-blues have held up in the legislature's Procedure Committee.

Lee's earlier comment that the US sale to Taiwan of long-range offensive missiles was more important than the special budget items of diesel submarines and PC-3 anti-submarine reconnaissance aircraft did not come up in Lee's talk with the congressmen, a source said.

Lee had made that statement in an interview with the editorial staff of the Washington Post, which was reported in the paper's Wednesday edition.

While much of Lee's message centered around his strong conviction that Taiwan needs and deserves full and internationally recognized independence, Lantos demurred, according to a source.

The Hyde-Lantos meeting was one of a series of meetings Lee held during the day with key members of Congress, including the House and Senate Taiwan caucuses, during Lee's first visit to Washington since becoming president in 1988.

It was a proud day for Lee as he did the rounds in the Capitol, culminating with a reception hosted by the two caucuses in a room in the Capitol, at which 22 members of Congress attended to pay tribute to Lee, the democracy he had such a big hand in creating, and close US-Taiwan ties.

It also came a day after no fewer than four congressmen made statements on the floor of the House praising and welcoming Lee to the capital.

In those statements and in congratulatory comments at the reception, member after member condemned the fact that Lee could not come to Washington when he was president, and expressed the conviction that Chen should be allowed into Washington now.

"I hope that soon all restrictions on high-level visits from Taiwan will be lifted, including the president ... so that a balanced understanding of both sides of the Taiwan Strait will be directly available to Congress, the administration and the American public," Democratic Representative Edolphus Towns said.

The US lawmakers called China's leaders "tyrants" as they welcomed Lee to Congress as the "founding father of democracy" and praised him for his unrelenting stance toward Beijing.

Even such a staunch conservative supporter of the Bush administration as California Republican Dana Rohrabacher, co-chairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, blasted the administration as "wimps" for not letting Chen visit Washington and not letting administration officials attend the congressional reception.

"Today, we are welcoming a great hero of freedom," Rohrabacher said. "President Lee, I want you to know that you are now in the Capitol, where we celebrate those who make trouble for tyrants."

He regretted the "timid behavior" of the Bush administration for distancing itself from Lee's visit "in the shadow of tyrants who rule the mainland of China," even thought Taiwan defended US ideals such as liberty and democracy.

"We have a monument here for the greatest troublemakers of our history -- Thomas Jefferson and George Washington," Rohrabacher said, referring to the third and first US presidents. "They were troublemakers for the tyrants of their day. President Lee is making trouble for the tyrants of our day."

While the House caucus has long been active in pro-Taiwan activities, the reception is believed to be the first time the Senate caucus has done something proactively since its high-profile inauguration in September 2003.

Lee called on the US to strengthen its commitment to Taiwan's democracy.

"We hope that our American friends will understand and accordingly support the Taiwanese people's desire to be free and to choose their own future," Lee said, citing China's military and economic rise in recent years and its danger of "becoming a threat to world peace."

KMT keeping illegal assets: DPP

STOLEN LAND?: Pan-green lawmakers slammed the KMT for not returning contested land, but the pan-blues insisted that the land was all obtained legally

By Ko Shu-ling

STAFF REPORTER

"It [the KMT ] is like the police haggling with a thief about returning the loot."－ Lin Chung-mo, DPP legislator

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday lambasted the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) for lacking sincerity in returning its improperly acquired party assets, with only less than 2 percent of its dubiously obtained real estate being returned so far.

"While the KMT refuses to return its stolen party assets, the Ministry of Finance has to negotiate and ask them to return it to the state coffers," said DPP Legislator Lin Chung-mo. "It is like the police haggling with a thief about returning the loot."

Lin made the remark during a breakfast meeting with finance authorities to discuss the progress of reclaiming the state properties improperly acquired by the KMT.

According to the Deputy Minister of Finance, Lee Ruey-tsang, the KMT should have handed over 144.51 hectares of real estate by now -- with a market value of NT$21.9 billion (US$650.1 million).

However, it has returned just 1.86 hectares, or 1.29 percent of the total.

DPP caucus whip William Lai said yesterday that the KMT lacks sincerity in renouncing the ownership of its questionable party assets and continues to obstruct the bill governing the survey and disposal of assets and properties of political parties and their affiliates that his caucus has proposed.

The bill has been blocked by the pan-blue dominated Procedural Committee seven times since the beginning of this legislative term in February.

DPP Legislator Cheng Yun-peng called on the People First Party (PFP) caucus to endorse the bill proposed by his caucus. Another DPP Legislator Hsu Kuo-yung asked the finance ministry to exert itself to redeem the KMT's stolen assets.

Lee, however, said that until the bill governing the survey and disposition of assets and properties of political parties and their affiliates clears the legislature, he is afraid that the government can only appeal to the KMT's conscience.

Responding to the DPP's remarks, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou yesterday requested that the DPP produce the evidence to prove its claim that his party's assets have been improperly acquired.

"The crux of the problem lies in the DPP's lack of concrete testament to prove their claims," he said.

KMT Deputy Secretary-General Chang Che-shen dismissed the finance ministry's allegation that the total of the KMT's inappropriately incurred assets exceeds 144 hectares.

"This allegation is purely politically motivated," he said. "All of our party assets are lawfully obtained and have legal documents to prove their legitimacy."

Kiss goodbye to a democratic state

By Cao Chang-qing

`[The pan-blue camp] would rather see the end of the ROC, destroy Taiwan's autonomy and hand Taiwan over to Beijing rather than let Taiwan stay in the hands of the Taiwanese.'

On the surface, the cross-strait peace advancement bill proposed by the People First Party (PFP) is a voluminous work which in reality boils down to two basic issues. The first is recognition of the so-called "1992 consensus," which says that there is "one China," and the second is the appropriation by the legislature of responsibility for cross-strait negotiation and policy.

It is clear from this that the pan-blue camp is little more than an accomplice of the Chinese Communist Party.

Let's look at the "one China" issue first. This is high on the agenda of the powers-that-be in Beijing, because the authorities there are well aware that the vast majority of nations in the world associate the name "China" with the People's Republic of China (PRC). The name Republic of China (ROC) is scarcely recognized nowadays, and is not even mentioned in the US Taiwan Relations Act. It has been little more than a name ever since former president Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan.

As far as the international community is concerned, the ROC was effectively laid to rest when UN recognition of China switched to the PRC. Anyone willing to look can see that the mainstream media in Western countries such as the US, the UK, France, Germany and Italy refrain from using the term ROC, because their audiences will not know whom they are referring to. Instead, they use the name "Taiwan," when talking about elections, the president, the legislature and so on.

Therefore, if this bill is passed, and the idea of "one China" is set in law, the legislature will be playing into Beijing's hands and helping them in their quest for unification. This will deal a deadly blow to Taiwan's sovereignty. Given that virtually the entire world equates China with the PRC, the legislature will have essentially sold out its own country and its autonomy if it does so.

Even more laughable is the fact that the bill places responsibility for cross-strait negotiation and policy in the hands of the legislature. This is nothing short of ridiculous. You wouldn't have this kind of bill passed in the national assembly of any other nation on Earth.

Take, for example, the Taiwan Relations Act. The act requires the government to perform certain duties in certain ways. It certainly doesn't give the US Congress the right to form its own commission to conduct relations between the US and Taiwan, as this would be in breach of the principle of the three-branch government system.

Could it be that the pan blue legislators really don't understand this? This is doubtful. The real reason is that they would rather see the end of the ROC, destroy Taiwan's autonomy and hand Taiwan over to Beijing rather than let Taiwan stay in the hands of the Taiwanese.

Forced to choose between the Chinese communists and the Taiwanese who elected them, they will side with the former and prevent the people from having the right to choose their national name, flag and anthem.

This legal maneuvering both delights China and adds fuel to its ambitions of using military might against Taiwan. After their meetings with former KMT chairman Lien Chan and PFP chairman James Soong, Chinese President Hu Jintao and his cronies seem confident that this is what will play out.

This so-called peace advancement bill is in fact a fantasy pandering to Beijing, a "war promotion bill" which increases the likelihood of an attack on Taiwan by China. It is a bill designed to aid China in its plan to annex Taiwan and to sell the Taiwanese people down the river. If this pernicious piece of legislation is passed, it will be to the everlasting shame of a once-democratic Taiwan.

Cao Chang-Qing is a writer based in New York.

PRC's space program a concern for Taiwanese

By Wang Kun-yi

China has successfully completed the mission of its second manned spacecraft Shenzhou VI. Although the government repeatedly claimed that its space program is being developed strictly for peaceful purposes, when the whole development and launch process is being directed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA), one cannot help but be concerned over the direction that China's space program is taking, and question whether their intentions are really as peaceful as they claim.

Generally speaking, the development of manned spacecraft has the potential for the following military applications: locating and monitoring terrestrial targets; aiding the command and direction of ground forces; repairing orbiting satellites and assembling large space-based military facilities; blocking or destroying satellites and missiles; and refueling military satellites and orbiting space platforms.

The first and fourth of these applications have given many members of the international community serious cause for concern.

KEY FACTOR

A key factor in China's Revolution in Military Affairs has been the development and acquisition of advanced weapon technology.

In addition to upgrading the three traditional branches of the armed services -- the army, the navy and the air force -- it has also placed considerable emphasis on information warfare, or cyberwarfare.

Recently, China has actively sought to catch up with advanced nations in the field of cyberwarfare, even establishing a computer network branch within the military to improve efficiency in this area.

In addition, developing a space arm of the military has been a long-term goal of China's military.

Ever since the 1960s, the PLA has dreamed of possessing "the two bombs and satellites" -- the "two bombs" refer to atomic and hydrogen bombs.

MANNED SPACECRAFT

Since 1992, China has included manned spacecraft in its national development planning, which was later dubbed the Shenzhou manned flight project. China successfully launched its first unmanned spacecraft in 1999. With the launch of the Shenzhou VI this year, China's second manned space flight, the rapidity and efficiency of China's space program can be observed.

Missiles that are capable of rapidly changing their course and altitude during flight are also being developed as part of China's space program.

These missiles will be better able to evade interception from missile defense systems and will be extremely efficient themselves at intercepting other missiles.

After China has acquired such technology, it will be able to use long-range missiles to successfully counter the US missile defense system, which is currently under development.

EXPRESSION OF CONCERN

This is one of the reasons for the US' expression of concern over China's development of space technology.

While China continues to enhance its advanced military capabilities, the opposition parties in Taiwan continue to obstruct the passage of the arms-procurement package in the legislature.

As a result, there will be a growing imbalance in cross-strait military strength, which is of the utmost significance for Taiwan's ongoing security.

Wang Kun-yi is an associate professor in the graduate institute of international affairs and strategic studies at Tamkang University.