[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 31, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S663-S664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                         CHINA THREATENS TAIWAN

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, the New York Times carried an 
article titled ``As China Threatens Taiwan, It Makes Sure U.S. 
Listens,'' written by Patrick E. Tyler, about irresponsible talk from 
Chinese leaders against Taiwan. I ask that the article be printed at 
the end of my remarks.
  It is the kind of talk that inevitably sours relations between China 
and the United States but, also, causes apprehension among the entire 
community of nations.
  The United States made a mistake in the Shanghai Communique of not 
recognizing that Taiwan and China, in fact, today are two separate 
countries. If they eventually want to merge as East Germany and West 
Germany did, that is up to them.
  But China should not think that when we read accounts like that in 
the New York Times, we sit idly by and think that it makes no 
difference. The New York Times editorial response to it, which I ask to 
be printed at the end of my remarks, is appropriate.
  I want a good relationship with China. All of my colleagues want a 
good relationship with China. But China is impeding the possibility of 
that good relationship with its threats to Taiwan.
  The New York Times article and editorial response follow:

     As China Threatens Taiwan, It Makes Sure United States Listens

                         (By Patrick E. Tyler)

       Beijing, Jan. 23.--The Chinese leadership has sent 
     unusually explicit warnings to the Clinton Administration 
     that China has completed plans for a limited attack on Taiwan 
     that could be mounted in the weeks after Taiwan's President, 
     Lee Tenghui, wins the first democratic balloting for the 
     presidency in March.
       The purpose of this saber-rattling is apparently to prod 
     the United States to rein in Taiwan and President Lee, whose 
     push for greater international recognition for the island of 
     21 million people, has been condemned here as a drive for 
     independence.
       While no one familiar with the threats thinks China is on 
     the verge of risking a catastrophic war against Taiwan, some 
     China experts fear that the Taiwan issue has become such a 
     test of national pride for Chinese leaders that the danger of 
     war should be taken seriously.
       A senior American official said the Administration has ``no 
     independent confirmation or even credible evidence'' that the 
     Chinese are contemplating an attack, and spoke almost 
     dismissively of the prospect.
       ``They can fire missiles, but Taiwan has some teeth of its 
     own,'' the official said. ``And does China want to risk that 
     and the international effects?''
       The most pointed of the Chinese warnings was conveyed 
     recently through a former Assistant Secretary of Defense, 
     Chas. W. Freeman Jr., who traveled to China this winter for 
     discussions with senior Chinese officials. On Jan. 4, after 
     returning to Washington, Mr. Freeman informed President 
     Clinton's national security adviser, Anthony Lake, that the 
     People's Liberation Army had prepared plans for a missile 
     attack against Taiwan consisting of one conventional missile 
     strike a day for 30 days.
       This warning followed similar statements relayed to 
     Administration officials by John W. Lewis, a Stanford 
     University political scientist who meets frequently with 
     senior Chinese military figures here.
       These warnings do not mean that an attack on Taiwan is 
     certain or imminent. Instead, a number of China specialists 
     say that China, through ``credible preparations'' for an 
     attack, hopes to intimidate the Taiwanese and to influence 
     American policy toward Taiwan. The goal, these experts say, 
     is to force Taiwan to abandon the campaign initiated by 
     President Lee, including his effort to have Taiwan seated at 
     the United Nations, and to end high-profile visits by 
     President Lee to the United States and to other countries.
       If the threats fail to rein in Mr. Lee, however, a number 
     of experts now express the view that China could resort to 
     force, despite the enormous consequences for its economy and 
     for political stability in Asia.
       Since last summer, when the White House allowed Mr. Lee to 
     visit the United States, the Chinese leadership has escalated 
     its attacks on the Taiwan leader, accusing him of seeking to 
     ``split the motherland'' and undermine the ``one China'' 
     policy that had been the bedrock of relations between Beijing 
     and its estranged province since 1949.
       A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, asked to comment on 
     reports that the Chinese military has prepared plans for 
     military action against Taiwan, said he was awaiting a 
     response from his superiors. Last month, a senior ministry 
     official said privately that China's obvious preparations for 
     military action have been intended to head off an unwanted 
     conflict.
       ``We have been trying to do all we can to avoid a scenario 
     in which we are confronted in the end with no other option 
     but a military one,'' the official said. He said that if 
     China does not succeed in changing Taiwan's course, ``then I 
     am afraid there is going to be a war.''
       Mr. Freeman described the most recent warning during a 
     meeting Mr. Lake had called with nongovernmental China 
     specialists.
       Participants said that Mr. Freeman's presentation was 
     arresting as he described being told by a Chinese official of 
     the advanced state of military planning. Preparations for a 
     missile attack on Taiwan, he said, and the target selection 
     to carry it out, have been completed and await a final 
     decision by the Politburo in Beijing.
       One of the most dramatic moments came when Mr. Freeman 
     quoted a Chinese official as asserting that China could act 
     militarily against Taiwan without fear of intervention by the 
     United States because American leaders ``care more about Los 
     Angeles than they do about Taiwan,'' a statement that Mr. 
     Freeman characterized as an indirect threat by China to use 
     nuclear weapons against the United States.
       An account of the White House meeting was provided by some 
     of the participants. Mr. Freeman, reached by telephone, 
     confirmed the gist of his remarks, reiterating that he 
     believes that while ``Beijing clearly prefers negotiation to 
     combat,'' there is a new sense of urgency in Beijing to end 
     Taiwan's quest for ``independent international status.''
       Mr. Freeman said that President Lee's behavior ``in the 
     weeks following his re-election will determine'' whether 
     Beijing's Communist Party leaders feel they must act ``by 
     direct military means'' to change his behavior.
       In recent months, Mr. Freeman said he has relayed a number 
     of warnings to United States Government officials. ``I have 
     quoted senior Chinese who told me'' that China ``would 
     sacrifice `millions of men' and `entire cities' to assure the 
     unity of China and who opined that the United States would 
     not make comparable sacrifices.''
       He also asserted that ``some in Beijing may be prepared to 
     engage in nuclear blackmail against the U.S. to insure that 
     Americans do not obstruct'' efforts by the People's 
     Liberation Army ``to defend the principles of Chinese 
     sovereignty over Taiwan and Chinese national unity.''
       Some specialists at the meeting wondered if Mr. Freeman's 
     presentation was too alarmist and suggested that 
     parliamentary elections on Taiwan in December had resulted in 
     losses for the ruling Nationalist Party and that President 
     Lee appeared to be moderating his behavior to avoid a crisis.
       ``I am not alarmist at this point,'' said one specialist, 
     who would not comment on the substance of the White House 
     meeting. ``I don't think the evidence is developing in that 
     direction.''
       Other participants in the White House meeting, who said 
     they would not violate the confidentiality pledge of the 
     private session, separately expressed their concern that a 
     potential military crisis is building in the Taiwan Strait.
       ``I think there is evidence to suggest that the Chinese are 
     creating at least the option to apply military pressure to 
     Taiwan if they feel that Taiwan is effectively moving out of 
     China's orbit politically,'' said Kenneth Lieberthal, a China 
     scholar at the University 

[[Page S664]]
     of Michigan and an informal adviser to the Administration.
       Mr. Lieberthal, who also has traveled to China in recent 
     months, said Beijing has redeployed forces from other parts 
     of the country to the coastal areas facing Taiwan and set up 
     new command structures ``for various kinds of military action 
     against Taiwan.''
       ``They have done all this in a fashion they know Taiwan can 
     monitor,'' he said, ``so as to become credible on the use of 
     force.''
       ``I believe there has been no decision to use military 
     force,'' he continued, ``and they recognize that it would be 
     a policy failure for them to have to resort to force; but 
     they have set up the option, they have communicated that in 
     the most credible fashion and, I believe, the danger is that 
     they would exercise it in certain circumstances.''
       Several experts cited their concern that actions by 
     Congress in the aftermath of President Lee's expected 
     election could be a critical factor contributing to a 
     military confrontation. If President Lee perceives that he 
     has a strong base of support in the United States Congress 
     and presses forward with his campaign to raise Taiwan's 
     status, the risk of a military crisis is greater, they said. 
     A chief concern is that Congress would seek to invite the 
     Taiwan leader back to the United States as a gesture of 
     American support. A Chinese military leader warned in 
     November that such a step could have ``explosive'' results.
       In recent months, American statements on whether United 
     States forces would come to the defense of Taiwan if it came 
     under attack have been deliberately vague so as to deter 
     Beijing through a posture of what the Pentagon calls 
     ``strategic ambiguity.''
       Some members of Congress assert that the Taiwan Relations 
     Act of 1979 includes an implicit pledge to defend Taiwan if 
     attacked, but Administration officials say that, in the end, 
     the decision would depend on the timing, pretext and nature 
     of Chinese aggression.

                         China Threatens Taiwan

       China has made no secret of its concern that Taiwan is 
     drifting toward independence with the tacit support of the 
     United States. Beijing pounced on an unofficial visit to 
     America last year by Taiwan's President, Lee Teng-hui, to 
     register its strong objection to any potential change in 
     Taiwan's status. But China has now escalated tensions by 
     recklessly raising the prospect that it might use military 
     force to intimidate Taiwan. The United States and other 
     countries must make clear that such a step would unravel 
     Beijing's relations with the international community and 
     undermine China's prized economic boom.
       Patrick Tyler of The Times reports that Chinese officials 
     have let the Clinton Administration know that Beijing has 
     completed plans for a limited military attack on Taiwan as 
     soon as this spring unless the island bows to demands for a 
     lower-profile foreign policy.
       These warnings may well be nine-tenths diplomatic bluff. 
     But even so they suggest that Beijing has lost sight of one 
     of the basic understandings underlying improved Chinese-
     American relations since the Nixon Administration--that 
     Taiwan's future status must be settled by peaceable means.
       Beijing is plainly infuriated by the recent efforts of 
     President Lee to win increased recognition for his country in 
     foreign capitals and international bodies like the United 
     Nations. The mainland Government sees Taiwan as an integral 
     part of the historical Chinese empire, torn away by foreign 
     imperialists and Chiang Kai-shek at a time when China was 
     weak. Taiwanese see it differently, pointing to their 
     centuries of separate cultural development and, more 
     importantly, their hard-won political democracy and thriving 
     capitalist economy as good reasons for standing somewhat 
     apart.
       China apparently hopes its warnings will lead Washington to 
     lean on Mr. Lee to accommodate Beijing. While Washington 
     should urge caution on both sides, the United States must 
     vigorously reject military bullying from Beijing in cases 
     like this.
       Taiwan is too big to be treated as a mere pawn in relations 
     between Washington and Beijing. It is America's seventh-
     largest trading partner, with 21 million people, a vibrant 
     democracy and one of Asia's highest living standards.
       More than anything else, it is the fear that today's 
     freedoms and prosperity would be lost under Beijing's harsh 
     authoritarian rule that fuels Taiwan's quest for a separate 
     identity. Beijing would do better to address this fear with 
     political and economic reforms at home rather than 
     threatening the use of force across the Taiwan 
     Straits.

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