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China¡¦s deployment of missiles is a
mistake
By Nat Bellocchi ¥Õ¼Ö±T
Sunday, Jul 04, 2010, Page 8
Recent statements by US Senator Dianne Feinstein about Taiwan
and its relations with China caused quite a stir.
The statement that attracted most attention was a remark she made during a
Senate hearing with US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on June 16, indicating
that during a recent trip to China, leaders in Beijing had offered to ¡§redeploy
back¡¨ some of their military forces, including missiles, opposite Taiwan, in
return for Washington not selling arms to Taipei.
The statement later turned out to be a dud. An aide explained that she was
referring to an offer that was made in the past and was no longer on the table,
while the next day US Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg, when asked about
the statement, denied that China had made any specific proposals along the lines
indicated by Feinstein.
However, another statement by Feinstein actually gives more reason for concern.
In a June 6 interview with the Wall Street Journal, she said of the sale of
US$6.4 billion worth of arms to Taiwan, announced by the administration of US
President Barack Obama in January: ¡§I believe that¡¦s a mistake on our part.¡¨
It is difficult to understand why Feinstein feels that the arms sale is a
mistake on the part of the US. It is a clear response to China¡¦s continuing
military buildup across the Taiwan Strait, including the ongoing deployment of
missiles aimed at Taiwan. China has indicated in no uncertain terms that this
buildup is designed to coerce Taiwan into reunification.
If there is a ¡§mistake,¡¨ it is on China¡¦s part: The leaders in Beijing are
apparently underestimating and misjudging US resolve to help defend Taiwan. This
is not only the political resolve enunciated by successive US administrations,
but is also enshrined in US law ¡X the Taiwan Relations Act, which was enacted by
Congress in 1979.
Perhaps Feinstein feels that the US should not be engaged in an ¡§arms race¡¨
across the Taiwan Strait or that it should work toward ¡§demilitarization¡¨ in the
area. However, history shows that unilateral reductions in arms and defense
capability actually invite aggression. It takes two to tango, and China would
have to show a clear willingness to reduce its arms buildup and missile arsenal
arrayed against Taiwan for demilitarization to work.
It is a useful exercise to remind ourselves of other past examples in which an
ill considered idea led to aggression and even war. World War II was
precipitated when France, Britain and the US looked the other way as Nazi
Germany laid claim to neighboring Sudetenland and used it as an excuse to invade
Czechoslovakia and Poland.
In 1950, the Korean War ¡X a war that I fought in ¡X came about after (though not
necessarily directly because of) former US secretary of state Dean Acheson left
South Korea out of his ¡§Aleutians speech¡¨ detailing the US defense perimeter in
the Western Pacific. In 1991, a statement by a US official to former Iraqi
president Saddam Hussein that ¡§Kuwait is not important to the United States¡¨ is
said to have contributed to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
The message should be clear: If the US want a peaceful resolution of
cross-strait conflict, it needs to stand by Taiwan, not only militarily, but
also politically and economically. At the same time, the US needs to impress on
China in no uncertain terms that its continuing military buildup is wrongheaded
and a mistake on Beijing¡¦s part.
Nat Bellocchi is a former chairman of the American Institute
in Taiwan and a special adviser to the Liberty Times Group. The views expressed
in this article are his own.
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