In his National Day speech yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) made a new call for cross-strait interaction, urging Beijing's leadership to remove the more than 400 ballistic missiles deployed along China's southeast coast across from Taiwan. Chen also called on China to formally renounce the use of force against Taiwan, re-open cross-strait talks and resolve the current standoff through rational dialogue.
Chen's speech reflects not just the sentiments of the people of Taiwan. It also echoes the feelings of many East Asian countries within the range of China's ballistic missiles. The US said recently that it would not hesitate to use preventive force unilaterally to cut Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction and stop Saddam Hussein's support for terrorist organizations. Chen faces a threat to Taiwan's national security in much the same way as US President George W. Bush faces a threat to regional security. The difference is that each of them takes a different approach toward the corresponding threats. Being the world's superpower, the US can take immediate and decisive action against external threats. In contrast, Chen has called for peace talks in a low-key manner.
Both Iraq and China have sponsored terrorist organizations for a long time, but Beijing has distanced itself from terrorist groups and supported US anti-terrorism policies since last year's Sept. 11 attacks in the US.
However, China has long possessed weapons of mass destruction. In 1996, it staged military exercises to intimidate Taiwan. In August this year, Beijing test-fired a DF-4 missile -- which has a 6,400km range -- while US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was visiting China. It was clearly a show of force against the US.
China has complained repeatedly that the US has failed to abide by the "817 Communique," which called for a reduction of US arms sales to Taiwan. In reality, it was China which trampled on the communique. China's belligerence has not only justified Taiwan's purchase of military hardware, but has also prompted the US government's defense and security departments to view the arms sales as an urgent matter and complain that the relatively slow progress Taiwan has been making in this regard. China's reckless military buildup has forced both Taiwan and the US to view the 817 Communique as a piece of paper good for the trash.
Frequent calls for a "cross-strait non-nuclear zone," a "cross-strait de-militarized zone," and a "cross-strait peace treaty" come from this nation. Taiwan's government has also echoed the calls, but China has ignored them and continued to increase missile deployment along its southeast coast. Such actions have escalated tensions in the region and are by no means conducive to cross-strait peace. On the contrary, they have forced Taiwan to increase arms purchases to tackle China's military threat. Beijing started this vicious cycle of an arms race. Chen's speech has now given China another opportunity to understand that military force cannot encourage peace talks.
Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
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