The lack of a vigorous response by the Bush administration to this month's successful Chinese anti-satellite test could lead Beijing to believe that the US is not committed to defending Taiwan, a leading conservative senator of US President George W. Bush's Republican Party said in Washington on Monday.
Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, a leading backer of Taiwan in Congress, made his comments in an address on China's space program to the Heritage Foundation.
One of the strongest congressional champions of a strong US military space capability, Kyl expressed concern that a main driver of China's effort in military space technology is connected to its designs on Taiwan.
"China does not believe that space can or should be free of military capabilities," Kyl said. "China believes it must develop space weapons for its own security specifically for preparation for a possible conflict with the United States over Taiwan."
Asked whether the general lack of a US response since the test was revealed earlier this month would convince China that the Bush administration lacks a commitment to Taiwan, Kyl said, "The answer to that question could be `yes.'"
"It should not be, and I hope it doesn't evolve in that direction. But as a result of the lack of response, the Chinese believe that they can continue to push further and that very pushing creates more controversy. Then at least puts the question more squarely before us in a way that we may not like," he said.
Kyl urged the US to firmly resolve to defend Taiwan, saying: "We can never allow ourselves to get to the point where it isn't crystal clear to the Chinese what would happen if they engaged in such an attack."
He also said the China space "threat" is cause for international concern, especially for Japan, and he expects Japan would consider "joint action" to deal with the situation.
In his speech, Kyl voiced strong opposition to a US-China treaty or agreement banning the use of military applications in space, saying such agreements could not work and could put the US at a disadvantage. If Washington foreswore the militarization of space and China secretly continued to develop its capabilities, the US could find itself behind China should a crisis erupt, he said.
He urged a wide-ranging -- and potentially costly -- buildup of US space warfare capability.
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