Powell Upholds Support for Israel, Taiwan

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, in his first appearance before a congressional foreign relations committee, reiterated firm U.S. support for Israel and Taiwan on Wednesday but stopped short of embracing new policies advocated by some lawmakers.

“Our support for Israel is unchanged for 50 years now,” Powell told the House International Relations Committee during a hearing that was billed as an examination of the State Department budget but was focused almost entirely on nonfiscal foreign policy issues. “U.S. support for the security of Israel will always be there.”

His answer did not directly address the question put to him by Rep. Tom Lantos (D-San Mateo), the panel’s ranking minority member. Lantos insisted that the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian violence has shown that the Palestinians are not interested in peace. He said the United States should stop dealing with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat as a political leader and should treat him only as a terrorist.

The closest Powell came to addressing the issue of future U.S. relations with the Palestinian Authority was to say that, unless Middle East violence subsides, the Palestinians cannot expect much international help with economic development of the parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip that the authority administers.

Asked about Taiwan, Powell said the Bush administration doesn’t plan to change the framework that has been in place since the Nixon administration: The United States does not support Taiwanese independence but will help the island resist any attempt by China to take it by force. Beijing considers Taiwan to be a rebellious province.

“Under no circumstance would we tolerate any change in the status of Taiwan unless it is the result of free and open negotiations between the parties,” he said. But when pressed by Rep. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) to support Taiwan’s effort to join the World Health Organization, Powell said the Taipei government deserves the benefits of membership but should not be allowed to join organizations that are open only to sovereign states.

Powell’s refusal to take U.S. policy in a more pro-Israel or pro-Taiwan direction typified his two-hour exchange with the committee. He answered all of the questions put to him with military precision, often using far fewer words in his replies than lawmakers did in posing questions. But he broke very little new ground.

The hearing room was jammed with reporters and other spectators, and a line of people waiting for scarce public seats stretched far down the hall. The secretary of State is scheduled for a similar appearance today with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Powell said the administration is determined to develop a new approach to sanctions on Baghdad, measures that would punish the regime of President Saddam Hussein but not be a hardship for the Iraqi public. Powell said he is trying to cobble together an international coalition in favor of such “smart sanctions,” but he offered no additional details on how that would work.

Committee Chairman Henry J. Hyde (R-Ill.) kicked off the questioning with a pithy, “Regarding Iraq, what is our policy: to contain [Hussein] or to remove him?”

Powell’s reply was, in effect, both. He said the purpose of sanctions is to keep Hussein from developing weapons of mass destruction, whereas U.S. support for the Iraqi opposition is intended to remove the dictator from power.

But Powell made it clear that imposing a new set of sanctions will require support from a number of states, including Syria and some other Arab governments, that are extremely suspicious of Iraqi opposition groups.

Addressing one of the most emotional issues facing U.S. policy toward the Middle East, Powell said the administration intends to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But he made it clear that it won’t happen right away.

“President Bush is committed to moving our embassy to Jerusalem,” he said. “The process is ongoing.” But he added immediately, “In light of the very difficult situation that exists right now, we’ll continue to examine how that process should start.”

The Israeli government wants all countries to locate their embassies in Jerusalem, the city Israel considers its capital. But most of the world’s governments refuse to do so because of unresolved Arab claims to part of the city.