U.S. Urges Restraint by China During Taiwan Vote

Top U.S. diplomats, completing two days of intensive talks with Chinese officials, Friday urged Beijing to show the “highest possible degree of restraint” when Taiwan elects a new president next month.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, in talks with key Chinese foreign affairs and military officials, expressed concern about a Chinese missile buildup near the Taiwan Strait, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity. If China shows restraint, Talbott added, it would reduce the need for U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

American diplomats refused to describe the Chinese response, but the talks apparently did not resolve any major differences between Beijing and Washington.

Chinese officials remained firm in their opposition to American plans to build a theater missile defense system to shield the United States against incoming attacks. Beijing is concerned that such weapons might alter the strategic arms balance or be extended to shield Taiwan, which it sees as a separatist province.

In addition to talks with Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Talbott met with Vice Premier Qian Qichen, Lt. Gen. Xiong Guangkai and Gen. Zhang Wannian, all influential policymakers in China.

The talks seemed aimed at avoiding a repetition of the potentially dangerous confrontation between the U.S. and China during Taiwan’s first democratic presidential election in 1996. Then, Beijing tried to cow Taiwanese voters by holding military exercises and launching unarmed missiles into the sea off Taiwan. Washington responded by dispatching two aircraft carriers to the area.

“This year, the potential danger is much greater than in 1996,” said Shi Yinhong, president of the American History Research Assn. of China. Shi and other Chinese analysts warn that a number of possible scenarios, alone or in combination, could prompt China to use military force against Taiwan:

* Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-bian, perceived by Beijing as supporting Taiwanese independence, wins the March 18 election.

* Congress passes the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act, which would strengthen U.S. support for the defense of Taiwan.

* Taiwan amends its constitution to include the position that ties between Beijing and Taipei constitute “state-to-state” relations.

China has said that a declaration of independence by Taiwan, or an attempt by foreign forces to stop reunification, would be cause for war.

U.S. officials said that while they didn’t discuss Taiwan’s election in depth, Chinese officials indicated that they are “scrutinizing it very closely.”

Officials said that Talbott’s delegation also discussed regional security matters and raised human rights and religious issues with the Chinese.

The talks resumed a dialogue broken off after the U.S. erroneously bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia’s capital, in May during NATO’s Kosovo campaign.