Dear Mr. Secretary-General George Robertson,
　　 Mr. Trent Lott,
　　 Mr. Denny Hastert,

PRC warns U.S. no further military aid to ROC
--- Must we implicit faith in Beijing?

WASHINGTON ---
The chairman of the mainland Chinese legislature's Foreign Affairs Committee, Zeng Jian-hui, warned Washington Thursday against extending additional military aid to Taiwan.

The Taiwan Security Enhancement Act currently being debated in the U.S. Congress would. Authorize further U.S. arms exports to Taiwan, including air-to-air missiles, new radar systems and an anti missile system.

"If this bill is passed, it will only make the situation more tense. It will do no good to the peaceful reunification of Taiwan," Zeng told a press conference here through an interpreter.

Zeng is heading a Chinese National People's Congress delegation that is visiting Washington on the invitation of a group for Sino-U.S. inter parliamentary relations.

He reiterated Beijing's opposition to any anti-missile system in southeast Asia that would include Taiwan. Such a move would be regarded by Beijing as interference in Chinese domestic affairs, he said. "We strongly oppose the TMD (theater missile defense) including Taiwan," he said.

Beijing details action plan, sources say

The mainland authorities appeared to have sent a memo to the U.S. government listing what military actions it may take against Taiwan and under what circumstances such actions may be taken to prevent Taiwan from seeking independence, sources familiar with cross-strait relations said yesterday.

The China Times Express quoted the sources as saying that the mainland authorities appear to have come up with an agenda for military actions. Chinese military operations in recent months adhere to the agenda.

Beijing appears to have increased its pressure on Washington since Taipei introduced "state-to-state relations," judging from the open opposition to Taipei U.N. bid the U.S. and other members of the U.N. Security Council.

According to the memo, the mainland authorities would take different kinds of military actions, including large-scale military exercises on waters off Taiwan, if Taiwan authorities proposed revising its Constitution or other laws pursuant to President Lee Teng-hui's "state-to-state relations" theory.

Beijing issued the memo mainly to prevent possible clashes with Washington over the Taiwan issue, as happened in the 1996 missile crisis.

The sources said Washington is now less likely to get involved in cross-strait disputes, since it has been made aware of Beijing's potential actions in dealing with different stages of pro-independence activities in Taiwan.

According to Beijing's analysis, Taipei seems unlikely to take any further actions to promote independence before next March's presidential elections. Beijing may seek to improve relations with Taipei after a new president is elected.

In related news, Foreign Minister Jason Hu will leave next weekend for a visit to three Latin American countries, including Haiti and Panama rumored to be normalizing relations with Beijing.

Sources said Beijing appeared to have stepped up its crackdown on Taiwan in the international community since President Lee redefined cross-strait relations as "special state-to-state relations." Rumor have been circulated that Beijing has set a goal to normalize relations with two of Taiwan's allies in Central America before next year's elections.

Taiwan insists, however, that the "one China" policy stems from an agreement that both sides reached at their landmark 1993 meeting in Singapore, which was that each may hold its own interpretation of what "one China" meant. It says, therefore, that "two-states" declaration is consistent with its own interpretation of the policy.

Taipei ---
Taiwan made a concession to China on Thursday when its top negotiator with the mainland, Koo Chen-fu, offered to go to China to meet with his Chinese counterpart in a "gesture of respect" to resolve the stalemate in cross-strait relations. But Koo, chairman of the Strait Exchange Foundation, made no mention of whether Taiwan will modify its stance over President Lee Teng-hui's definition of cross-strait relations as "special state-to-state" relations, a definition that has raised Beijing's ire. "I will fly over to either Beijing or Shanghai, if necessary, to extend our respect and sincerity," Koo said on the first anniversary of his historic talks in Shanghai with Wang Daohan, chairman of China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.

China asks U.S. to drop investigation

WASHINGTON
Congressional investigators say they will step up their investigation of a Chinese government-owned conglomerate after two Chinese Embassy officials visited Capitol Hill to urge an end to the inquiry.

The House Government Reform Committee is investigating whether a Phoenix-based subsidiary of the company made improper gifts to Charles Parish, a former State Department officer in charge of issuing visas at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing from the years 1994 to 1996.

Two officials in the Chinese Embassy's commercial office visited committee investigators last month to discuss the probe, an offshoot of an investigation into illegal campaign contributions.

"The main thing the people at the Chinese Embassy accomplished by visiting us was to raise our antennae and make us wonder why they visited," said Kevin Binger, the committee's Republican staff director. "I think they hope they could come in and squelch that part of our investigation, but in reality they just made us all more interested."

A July panel report alleged that Elizabeth Mann, who heads BNU, the Phoenix-based subsidiary of the Chinese company called COFCO, gave gifts and free luxury lodging to Parish "as a way of ensuring that COFCO officials received visas." COFCO is the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Corp.

The committee recently subpoenaed BNU and Mann, seeking more documents.

Mann, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in China, has denied wrongdoing. BNU owns a US$90 million Chinese cultural center in Phoenix, manages real estate in the West, makes automobile loans and imports shoes from factories in China.

Parish, who also has denied wrongdoing, retired from the State Department after an internal probe cleared him of criminal misconduct.

Late last month, two Chinese Embassy officials asked to meet with committee Chairman Dan Burton and were referred to two investigators. The officials --- Shi Jianxin, head of the embassy's commercial affairs office, and Ci Bin, first secretary of that office --- told investigators the probe risked harming relations with China and COFCO, a major grain importer, Binger said.

China tests missile able to hit U.S.

China has successfully conducted computer simulated tests of a new long-range ballistic missile that could hit most part of the United States and Europe with nuclear warheads, a local newspaper reported yesterday.

Scientists simulated a launch of the Dongfeng-41 ICBM, a three-stage missile that could carry five to eight warheads with a range of 12,000 Kilometers, the Hong Kong Standard reported, quoting mainland Chinese sources whom it did not identify.

Chinese leaders have yet to decide when to conduct live test firing of the missile, which could be deployed in five years, the report said.

The Dongfeng-41, which would use solidified fuel, would take only a few minutes to prepare for war and would replace the DF-5 missiles, which take up to three hours to prepare, the English-language Standard reported.

China recently publicly paraded another missile, Dongfeng-31, in its gala celebration of the 50th anniversary of Communist rule. The nuclear-capable intercontinental missile, which was test-fired in August, has a range of 8,000 Kilometers, making it capable of striking Alaska and Hawaii.

U.S. officials have said China is not expected to deploy the Dongfeng-31 missile for several years.

I think we need to keep monitoring the development of their nuclear weapon capability, which will continue to improve. China wants to scare America, not attack America. They think that if they can intimidate America, America will stop interfering in the cross-strait conflict, and China can then use more traditional war techniques in dealing with Taiwan.

Communist China only talks with weapons. If you want to keep equal position, you must reveal equal power.

As former US Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger pointed out earlier this month, are ballistic missile defense systems that fall well within the remit of the Taiwan Relations Act and which Taiwan has repeatedly asked for. The Clinton administration has repeatedly delayed selling such systems, despite --- or perhaps because --- they would impede China's ability to threaten Taiwan. Again, this shows why the bill is so necessary, because of the Clinton administration's propensity to purchase China's favor with the currency of Taiwan's security.

Taiwan needs your help.