US House passes Taiwan defense bill

The US House of Representa-tives sent China a strong message on Tuesday, passing a controversial act to strengthen US-Taiwan military links with a bipartisan vote of 341-70.

While the vote was a symbolic victory for Taiwan, the act's move closer to becoming a law is expected to upset China, which has already promised "serious consequences" if the bill becomes a law.

The Republican-led House, which includes many staunch Taiwan supporters, brushed aside such concerns.

"A failure to meet Taiwan's legitimate defensive needs will make China's military dominance of the Taiwan Strait a reality and could encourage Beijing to seek a military solution to the Taiwan question," said Republican Representative Benjamin Gilman of New York, chairman of the House International Relations Committee.

The Taiwan Security Enhancement Act was introduced by Jesse Helms in the Senate last March. Following its passage in the House, the bill will be sent to the Senate for debate. So far 19 senators have sponsored the bill.

Taiwan welcomed the bill's passage but was low-key in weighing its chances in the Senate or at the White House.

"Taiwan's security is not only a matter for its people but is also relevant to peace in the Asian region and worthy of international attention," said Premier, Vincent Siew (蕭萬長).

The White House and the State Department called the passage of the bill "bad news" and strongly opposed it, predicting the bill would damage cross-straits relations and the stability in Asia.

Jim Foley, deputy spokesman for the State Department said President Bill Clinton will veto the bill on the advice of his National Security advisors.

Gilman, however, urged the Clinton administration to "rethink its opposition."

Some military and cross-strait analysts in Taipei said that the act, while still facing debate in the Senate, has good momentum behind it, following the House vote.

"The numbers say a lot," said Phillip Yang (楊永明), a political science professor at National Taiwan University and cross-strait affairs analyst.

"It will send a different message to the Senate, Clinton and the election campaign," Yang said.

Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), a local military analyst, said the vote was a good sign that some US representatives understood the effectiveness of the Taiwan Relations Act -- which mandates the sale of defensive weapons to Taiwan -- had waned over the years.

One recent example, Liao cited, was the buildup of ballistic missiles across the Taiwan Strait.

"Although China has deployed missiles, Taiwan is the one that is told time and time again to not be provocative," Liao said.

"It's absurd to label Taiwan the troublemaker. The US is punishing the wrong guy," Liao said.

Some 20 representatives expressed their support for the bill during a two-hour debate in the House on Tuesday.

Doug Bereuter, chairman of the subcommittee on Asia Pacific affairs, as well as Dick Armey, House majority leader, spoke for the bill.

Christopher Cox and other House representatives highlighted recent comments by the PLA's deputy chief of staff, Lieutenant General Xiong Guangkai (熊光楷), during his recent visit to Washington.

Xiong said China "would never renounce the use of force against Taiwan."

"His talk is not ambiguous, US policy should be the same," said Cox.

Arthur Waldron, director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, said the passage of the bill showed how poorly the Clinton Administra-tion has handled relations with China.