In March, Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen (錢其琛) invited himself to the US to lobby against the pending arms sales to Taiwan. A spokeswoman for Qian, Zhang Qiyue (章啟月) repeatedly referred to the Aug. 17, 1982 Sino-US joint communique as the basis for China's objection to US arms sales to Taiwan. So far the Bush administration has not responded to the Chinese assertion that sales of arms to Taiwan will violate the 1982 communique.
In 1982, a reluctant President Ronald Reagan was persuaded by his secretary of state, Alexander Haig, to sign the communique to gradually reduce the sale of arms to Taiwan, on the grounds that this was necessary in order to preserve the tacit Sino-US alliance against the Soviet Union. Arms sales to Taiwan were also not to exceed the level of the previous three years in qualitative or in quantitative terms.
The Bush administration is to make its decision on arms sales to Taiwan this week. The admin-istration will no doubt weigh many factors. The 1982 communique, however, should not be one of the considerations because it is no longer operative. There are several reasons for this view.
First, when the communique was signed, the Chinese government emphasized its "fundamental policy of striving for peaceful reunification" of Taiwan. It was with this "fundamental" Chinese policy in mind that the US government agreed to limit its arms sales to Taiwan. Peaceful resolution of Taiwan's status, in other words, was a precondition to the 1982 communique.
But China has never renounced the use of force. In its February 2000 White Paper, China threatened to attack Taiwan unless Taipei surrendered its de facto sovereignty soon. Qian stated during his US visit in March that if the US were to sell the AEGIS-equipped destroyers to Taiwan, a pre-emptive strike on Taiwan could not be ruled out. These are not empty threats. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is actively preparing for a military assault on Taiwan. It is purchasing advanced fighters, destroyers and submarines from Russia, conducting frequent joint-forces exercises that simulate an invasion of the island and attacks on US forces deployed in East Asia, and currently has over 300 missiles aimed at Taiwan. This number is expected to increase to 800 by 2005.
By reneging on its fundamental policy of a peaceful settle-ment, China has effectively abrogated the 1982 agreement. Surely Beijing cannot assert that it alone can violate the agreement while Washington must abide by its end. That would be "gangster logic," in the words of the late premier Chou En-lai (
Second, arms sales to Taiwan are governed by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). This is US domestic law, enacted by Con-gress as a remedy for the Carter administration's failure to provide for Taiwan's security when it extended diplomatic recognition to the PRC. In addition to providing a framework for unofficial commercial, cultural and other relations with Taiwan, the TRA states that any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means would be "a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern" to the US. The law mandates the sale of defensive arms to Taiwan, based solely on the needs of Taiwan. The TRA (Public Law 96-8) was passed by the 96th Congress with a veto-proof majority. It is legally binding on the US government. The TRA supersedes the 1982 communi-que, which clearly contravenes its arms sales provisions.
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