GOP, White House Face Off on Senate Bill to Boost Defense Aid to Taiwan

Against the backdrop of an increasingly dangerous test of wills between China and Taiwan, leading Senate Republicans faced off with the Clinton administration Wednesday over legislation to require stepped-up U.S. defense assistance to Taiwan.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), the primary author of the bill, said it is time to build up Taiwan’s military capacity to resist Beijing’s “bullying.” He accused President Clinton of yielding to pressure from China.

“This administration is a bunch of nervous Nellies, afraid of offending Beijing,” Helms asserted during his committee’s hearing on the legislation to require increased arms sales and military-to-military cooperation with Taiwan.

The administration’s senior Asia expert replied that passage of the bill would enrage China without helping Taiwan.

“A military solution alone for an island of 22 million people facing a nation of 1.3 billion people is a rather difficult proposition,” said Stanley Roth, assistant secretary of State for Asian affairs. “Taiwan’s security is not simply a matter . . . of hardware and of the balance of forces.”

The hearing marked the start of an intense new debate over U.S. policy toward China and Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing regards as a renegade province. Although Taiwan possesses most of the trappings of a sovereign state, its government has never formally declared independence and most countries do not recognize it as a separate nation. At least in theory, both Beijing and Taipei endorse an eventual peaceful reunification.

Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have increased since July 9, when Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui said that future relations between China and Taiwan should be conducted on a “special state-to-state” basis. Beijing interpreted that as a move toward independence and responded with increasingly provocative military maneuvers.

So far, U.S. intelligence reports indicate that China’s saber-rattling is largely psychological warfare, intended to intimidate Taiwan without preparing for an invasion or attack, Roth said.

“Thus far, we don’t see any mobilization on the [Beijing] side for military response,” he said.

But the situation remains worrisome. Roth said China and Taiwan are sending warplanes over the strait in a dangerous game of chicken despite U.S. calls for restraint.

“We have made not one, not two, but six demarches in the past 48 hours, in Beijing, in Taipei, in Washington . . . with the same message to both [sides]: Exercise restraint. Don’t push this to confrontation,” Roth said. Even an accident could touch off a military exchange, he said.

Both the administration and its congressional critics agree that passage of the Helms bill, co-authored by Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.), would put new strains on already troubled U.S.-China relations. But Helms argued that it is time for Washington to stand up in support of Taiwan, regardless of the reaction from Beijing.

While the hearing was still going on, China recorded its objections. The official New China News Agency quoted an unnamed Chinese official as saying the U.S. lawmakers should be aware of “the seriousness, the damage and the risk they will take if they support separatist activities in Taiwan.”

Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), the ranking minority member of the Foreign Relations Committee, warned that “passage of this legislation would be the equivalent of waving a red cape at the Chinese and inviting them to charge.”

At the same time, Biden warned the administration that it must take seriously the views of Helms and his allies. “Get smart quick,” Biden said, addressing the administration. “Otherwise the boss [Helms] is going to win, and it is not a good idea for him to win this one.”

Roth and Kurt Campbell, a Pentagon expert on Asia and the Pacific, tried to assure Helms that the administration is sensitive to Taiwan’s military needs.

Specifically, Roth said the administration “has not precluded the sale of a theater missile defense system” to Taiwan. Taipei has been seeking antimissile systems since China deployed new intermediate-range rockets on the coast facing the island.

Nevertheless, Roth said that every administration since 1979, including those of Presidents Reagan and Bush, followed a China policy similar to the one employed by Clinton.

“Communist China had not been as belligerent in previous administrations,” Helms replied. “What do you do if they continue to thumb their noses at us and steal our secrets?”