In Taking on China Over Taiwan, U.S. Issue Is Freedom of the Seas

As the China-Taiwan crisis sputtered on last week, America’s friends in Asia weren’t happy. The United States, they say, is speaking too loudly--and they aren’t sure Washington means what it says.

These uncertainties are particularly strong here in Singapore, America’s closest strategic partner in Southeast Asia, and the country with most to lose if the United States and China stumble into prolonged confrontation.

Singapore is a tough town--just ask Michael Faye--and it’s tough on security issues. And Singapore isn’t shy about U.S. military might--this is one of the few places in the world where they still think the Vietnam War was a good idea.

Today, Singapore may be the best and most reliable friend the United States has in Southeast Asia. When the United States lost its Philippine bases, Singapore stepped up to the plate with an offer to allow U.S. forces to use facilities here. And when some neighboring countries tried to develop an Asian-only regional organization, Singapore helped ensure that both sides of the Pacific Rim would be represented in the major economic and security forums.

So tough-minded Singapore welcomes the strong U.S. stand over Taiwan, right?

Well, no.

Singaporean officials and businessmen are worried that U.S. support for Taiwan could make the crisis worse by egging on the Taiwanese leadership. Both Taiwan and Beijing, people here say, should step back from the brink. Taiwan needs to stop flirting with independence, and China needs to accept Taiwan’s need for “international space”--a euphemism that covers Taiwan’s participation in various international organizations. Taiwan should admit it is part of China; Beijing should make clear it has no plans to control its offshore province. And both sides should go on doing what they do so well--making money.

Basically, many Asia hands here say, Washington made a key mistake in China policy: It failed to understand the importance of the Taiwan issue to China. China is deadly serious. By playing games on the issue--issuing a visa to the Taiwanese president for a personal visit to the United States, passing resolutions about defending Taiwan in the House--Washington is playing with nuclear fire.

But if Asians can claim that Washington has misread China, it also seems clear that both the Chinese and others in Asia underestimate the U.S. stake in the crisis. During the last two weeks in Asia, some U.S. allies wondered if the United States had the stomach to confront China over Taiwan. After all, these leaders said, look at Bosnia and Somalia, where U.S. public opinion was allergic to putting ground troops at risk. Would the U.S. public support a bloody war in Asia for Taiwan?

That’s a tough question to answer, but the United States is playing for much bigger stakes than Taiwan. When China denounced U.S. plans to send a naval task force into the Taiwan Strait, and when it threatened to block the flow of peaceful shipping to and from Taiwan, it was posing a direct challenge to America’s most vital foreign interests. The United States is a global trading nation. Its prosperity depends on the ability to move goods and people through international waters. The U.S. Navy must be free to protect American citizens and American commerce throughout the world. Companies must be able to ship goods to ports in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa. If China or anybody else interferes with U.S. shipping in one part of the world, or declares international waters off limits to our Navy, U.S. security and prosperity are threatened everywhere in the world.

If China were to bar naval and commercial shipping from the Taiwan Strait today, then Iran or Iraq could try it in the Persian Gulf tomorrow.

Freedom of the seas has been a vital national interest since the beginning of U.S. history. Thomas Jefferson sent the infant U.S. Navy across the ocean to force the Barbary pirates to allow free passage for American ships. Britain’s interference with U.S. shipping caused the War of 1812. The United States went to war with Spain after the sinking of the Maine.

German attacks on American shipping led the United States into World War I. If Japan had not attacked Pearl Harbor, Nazi U-boat attacks on U.S. shipping would almost certainly have led to American entrance into World War II. Alleged attacks by North Vietnamese patrol boats on U.S. naval ships in international waters led Congress to pass the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in 1964, the legal authority for the Vietnam War.

For 200 years, interfering with the freedom of the seas was the best and quickest way to start a war with the United States. If China were to pressure Taiwan by harassing peaceful, legal ships in and around the Taiwan Strait, the United States will be forced to respond.

If China challenges the United States over freedom of the seas, the risk of war will be real. Jefferson and Woodrow Wilson were two of the most idealistic, peace-minded presidents the United States ever had; both were driven to use force to keep the sea lanes open. Unfortunately, Chinese policymakers are not attuned to this history and do not understand the implications of their actions.

Mutual misunderstanding between China and the United States is what makes this crisis so dangerous. Washington still has not grasped just how determined Beijing is to block Taiwan’s independence. And China has not grasped how serious the United States must be about the freedom of the seas. Nations can and do go to war by mistake. None of the European powers really wanted a major war in 1914; Saddam Hussein would have left Kuwait alone had he understood just how the world would react.

Fortunately, by week’s end the worst of the Taiwan crisis appeared to have blown over. The damage, however, remains. Both the United States and China have moved closer toward open hostility. More and more Chinese officials believe the United States is hostile to China, and that Washington secretly supports Taiwanese independence as part of a broader strategy of weakening, dividing and containing China’s growing strength. Inside the United States, the confrontation fortifies the position of those who believe vital U.S. interests in the Pacific can only be defended by keeping China contained.

America’s friends in the Pacific don’t want the vicious cycle of hostility and confrontation to begin. Behind the scenes they are urging calm on the Americans, the Chinese and the Taiwanese. Washington should heed these voices, and underline its support for the one-China policy--but, at the same time, America and its Asian partners and friends must make China understand our point of view.

Freedom of the seas is a nonnegotiable U.S. interest; the Seventh Fleet has as much right to sail the Taiwan Strait as to sail from Hawaii to San Diego. China must honor its commitment not to settle the Taiwan issue through violent means--including blockades and other military measures aimed at interrupting peaceful commerce on the high seas.

Until both China and the United States respect each other’s vital interests in and around Taiwan, new and even more dangerous crises can break out at any time. War would be an unimaginable disaster for all concerned; now, as never before in Asia, Washington must follow Theodore Roosevelt’s advice to speak softly and carry a big stick.