It is unlikely that China’s threat of “severe consequences” will sway White House plans to sell several billions of dollars in arms to Taiwan early this year, a source close to the White House said.
But the threat made on Tuesday by Beijing’s Foreign Ministry was nevertheless a “cause for concern” among US President Barack Obama’s national security advisers.
The source said that the threat was “not unexpected” and that the US was prepared for “a more difficult period” in its relationship with Beijing.
While the exact contents of the arms package remain secret, there are strong indications that it will include Black Hawk helicopters and anti-missile batteries.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that it might also involve design and manufacturing plans for diesel-powered submarines, although this could not be verified by the Taipei Times.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman warned that any arms package would “undermine China-US cooperation.”
Senior Washington officials have indicated that advanced F-16 fighter planes sought by Taipei will not be part of the upcoming arms deal.
This omission — a considerable disappointment to the Taiwan military — is seen by some Washington analysts as an early concession to Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
The source close to the White House told the Taipei Times that following Obama’s trip to China late last year, the president hoped that withholding the fighters would be enough to calm Beijing’s reaction to the rest of the arms sales.
However, “Obama will not back down. The arms package will stay on track. Beijing may be overestimating its influence,” the source said.
The source said that while it was unlikely that Beijing would allow the arms sales to stop cooperation on such issues as economic recovery and climate change, there would be significant impact in other areas.
Of most concern is the possibility that China may end — at least temporarily — the recently restarted military-to-military contacts that the White House considers very valuable.
In addition, Beijing’s help to advance US policies in Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea could end and Hu may now refuse to attend a nuclear security summit planned for April.
The Washington Post story published on Sunday said that the arms sales and Obama’s decision to meet the Dalai Lama meant that US-China relations were headed for a “rough patch” despite a concerted effort by Washington to forge closer ties.
David Lampton, director of China Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, was quoted as saying: “I think it’s going to be nasty. That said, the US and China need each other.”
One analyst said China appeared to be increasing its assertiveness, that Beijing may now believe the US is in decline and that Obama may not have taken a hard enough line during his first year in power.
Coen Blaauw, a senior official with the Washington-based Formosa Association of Public Affairs, said: “Obama is obliged under the law — the Taiwan Relations Act — to sell defensive arms to Taiwan.
“These latest threats from Beijing are hollow. Beijing can’t afford to break off diplomatic relations with Washington, the US is too big. But China benefits from continuing to stir the pot and that’s what it’s doing,” he said.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS