- BEIJING (Reuters) - An official Chinese newspaper on Wednesday warned
of an unprecedented setback to Sino-U.S. relations if Taiwan were integrated
under an Asia-Pacific missile defense umbrella.
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- "Should the United States bring
Taiwan into its proposed anti-missile scheme, Sino-U.S. relations would
suffer a setback unprecedented since the normalization of bilateral ties,"
the China Daily said, quoting international affairs analysts in Beijing.
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- Washington switched diplomatic recognition
to Beijing from Taipei in 1979.
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- Beijing has regarded Taiwan as a rebel
province since the Communists won the Chinese civil war and drove the
defeated Nationalists into exile on the island in 1949.
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- The theatre missile defense (TMD) was
an "extension of efforts to contain China militarily," said Jian
Taojie, a researcher with the Center for Peace and Development Studies.
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- "By bringing Taiwan in, the U.S.
would forge a de facto military alliance with Taiwan," said Ouyang
Liping, an expert on global arms control with the China Institute of Contemporary
International Relations.
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- The TMD system would trigger a new global
arms race, Ouyang said.
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- Sa Benwang, a senior analyst on Sino-U.S.
relations with the China Institute for International Strategic Studies,
said the TMD system would "add fuel to separatist attempts for 'Taiwan
independence' and will also encourage Japan's ambitions for military expansion."
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- It would be a serious violation of China's
sovereignty and a heavy blow to the "strategic partnership"
China and the United States have pledged to build, Sa said.
-
- Ouyang warned that non-proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction was in danger of being reversed. He did
not elaborate.
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- Last week, Foreign Ministry spokesman
Sun Yuxi said the U.S. anti-missile systems would fuel regional and global
instability.
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- U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen
(pictured) said last week the United States faced a growing threat of
missile attack by rogue states and planned to spend an extra $6.6 billion
on countering it, on top of $3.9 billion already budgeted.
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- On Sunday the mouthpiece of the Chinese
military, the Liberation Army Daily, blasted the U.S. decision to boost
spending on anti-missile systems, calling it a "dangerous move"
and "unwise."
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- The newspaper warned against transferring
any anti-missile technology to Taiwan or including the island in the U.S.
anti-missile systems, saying it would be "absolutely unacceptable."
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