Taiwan Won’t Get U.S. Warships; GOP Miffed

Prominent congressional advocates of boosting Taiwan’s defense denounced the Clinton administration’s decision Monday to delay the sale of four destroyers equipped with sophisticated radar systems and other military hardware meant to help the island stave off threats from mainland China.

The proposed arms sales were the subject of widespread scrutiny this year after the election of a new, pro-independence president in Taiwan, which the Communist leaders on the mainland regard as a breakaway province.

Although they did not grant Taiwan all it had asked for, top U.S. officials did approve for sale what two government officials described as a “robust package” of equipment, including an array of air-to-air, air-to-ship and antitank missiles. Washington also agreed to help Taiwan move forward with plans to improve missile-detection radar on the island.

President Clinton signed off on the agreement Monday while visiting Palo Alto, a senior White House official said. The Pentagon will “assess further Taiwan’s long-term maritime needs,” the official said.

Details were to be communicated to the Taiwanese government Monday night, said a Defense Department official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The defense official stressed that the administration will revisit by next year the question of whether to sell Taiwan four destroyers--each equipped with sophisticated Aegis battle-management and missile-detecting radar systems--along with diesel submarines and P-3 Orion submarine-detecting aircraft.

“We have not denied these requests, we have deferred them,” the official said.

But several leading Republicans in Congress were not satisfied.

“There is, quite simply, no military justification to deny Taiwan these crucial defensive items,” said Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. “These denials are driven by knee-jerk appeasement on the part of the White House and the State Department.”

Two senior House Republicans, Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas and Christopher Cox of Newport Beach, joined in the criticism. DeLay said through a spokeswoman: “This is just another example of the Clinton-Gore administration turning its back on our democratic friends and appeasing Communist China.”

Cox, who led a committee that last year issued a scathing report on the effects of Chinese espionage on U.S. national security, noted that the U.S. arms sale decision came on the heels of the dramatic election in Taiwan in March of a new president, Chen Shui-bian, who during his campaign was sharply criticized by Beijing.

“It’s awfully difficult to see why Chen shouldn’t view this as an ominous development,” Cox said. “This is the first major step that the Clinton administration will be taking vis-a-vis [the newly elected president], and it is a dangerous one.”

Critics said the administration’s decision will give new life to legislation that would strengthen U.S.-Taiwanese military ties. The Taiwan Security Enhancement Act passed the House by an overwhelming, veto-proof margin. It has yet to come to a vote in the Senate.

Safeguarding Taiwan, which has been a major issue in Congress for decades, was made all the more sensitive by the U.S. decision in the 1970s to embrace an official “one China” policy. But complicating the politics of Taiwan security even further is the administration’s drive, in concert with Republican congressional leaders, to grant China permanent normal trade relations with the United States to help pave Beijing’s entry into the World Trade Organization.

On March 1, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott of Mississippi sent Clinton a letter, also signed by Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska), reminding the president that trade with China and Taiwan’s security are not isolated issues.

“Many of us are prepared to work in the months ahead with those who seek to advance the important [U.S.-China] trade relationship,” the senators wrote. “Our mutual objectives will be seriously imperiled, however, if the Beijing authorities believe they have a free hand to forcibly repatriate the free and democratic people of Taiwan.”

It was not immediately clear how Monday’s developments would be viewed by Lott and others in Congress who are pushing for a trade deal. Lott issued a statement declining to comment until he knew more details.

One Washington lobbyist who works on the issue with Taiwan said: “The decision will be met with very substantial concern in the Congress and Taiwan.”

But some members of Congress have quietly been urging all sides on the China-Taiwan security issue to tone down the rhetoric. Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyo.), who chairs a Foreign Relations subcommittee on East Asia, said the United States needs to take a cleareyed view of Taiwan’s defense needs.

Times staff writer Edwin Chen contributed to this report.

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* GEPHARDT OPPOSES BILL

The leading Democrat in the House is against normal trade relations with China. A12