China Warns Taiwan Not to Drag Its Feet on Reunifying

Turning up the heat as Taiwan prepares to pick a new president, China warned the island Monday that dragging out negotiations for reunification might provoke the mainland to attack.

In a new policy paper, China’s State Council, or Cabinet, said Beijing cannot wait “indefinitely” for the government in Taipei to come to the bargaining table. But the white paper stopped short of laying out a timeline for such talks to occur.

The remarks clearly were timed as a warning to Taiwan’s voters and presidential candidates as the island gears up for its second direct presidential election, scheduled for March 18.

Release of the policy paper also came just a few days after visiting U.S. officials urged the Chinese government to show the “highest possible degree of restraint” to avoid a repeat of the tense standoff that marked the first Taiwanese presidential election, in 1996. Then, Beijing lobbed test missiles into waters off Taiwan, prompting President Clinton to dispatch two naval ships to the area to protect the island of 22 million people.

Relations across the Taiwan Strait hit another low last summer when outgoing Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui insisted that the two sides be treated as separate states in any negotiations on future relations. China, which regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, reacted furiously, reiterating its promise to use military force to retake the island if it ever declares independence.

Monday’s white paper restated that position but added that any Taiwanese attempt to delay talks indefinitely also could provoke an attack. “Then the Chinese government will be forced to adopt all drastic measures possible, including the use of force, to . . . fulfill the great cause of reunification,” the paper said.

There was no immediate response to the white paper from Taiwan, where three candidates are locked in a close race to succeed Lee.

All three contenders have taken softer positions than Lee’s toward the mainland, including Chen Shui-bian, whose Democratic Progressive Party formally supports Taiwanese independence. Chen has pledged to work constructively with Beijing and backed away from any outright declaration of independence.

Chinese President Jiang Zemin is said to be pushing hard for reunification within the next 50 years, but no specific timetable was outlined in the policy paper.

For all the bellicose rhetoric Beijing directs at its much smaller rival, few analysts think that any attack on Taiwan is imminent, or that China will conduct any menacing military maneuvers before next month’s election. The mainland’s armed forces, although huge, still lag behind Taiwan’s in technology and equipment, even with Beijing’s recent receipt of a new Russian-built Sovremenny destroyer, a step up in its naval capability.

The People’s Liberation Army has been beefing up its arsenal in recent years, including its cache of missiles capable of hitting Taiwan.

Partially in response, the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives this month approved legislation to increase American arms sales to and upgrade military ties with Taipei. Beijing objects vociferously to this, and Clinton has said he would veto the bill.

The white paper called on the U.S. to reduce its arms sales to Taiwan and “not to stand in the way” of Chinese reunification.