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Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 57, May 2001

News Review

China Warns of Non-Proliferation Damage over US Taiwan Policy

On April 24, the US announced details of a major package of arms sales to Taiwan, most controversially including eight diesel-powered submarines, twelve P-3C Orion aircraft and four Kidd-class destroyers. China reacted with anger, noting in an April 25 Foreign Ministry statement: "This wrong decision...constitutes a flagrant violation of the three Sino-US joint communiqués, especially the one signed on August 17, 1982, and an open provocation to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. ... Such a move will also seriously impact on bilateral cooperation in the non-proliferation field, and cause...destructive damage to Sino-US relations."

On April 25, President Bush generated further controversy with his reply to a question on ABC Television on the extent of America's commitment to defend Taiwan - an issue long-shrouded in deliberate ambiguity in the hope of preventing crisis escalation or military miscalculation. Asked whether the US would do "whatever it took" to defend Taiwan - a term logically encompassing the question of nuclear use or threat of use - Bush replied: "Yes, we do, and the Chinese must understand that."

Many Democrats expressed deep concern at the President's comments. During a hearing of the House International Relations Subcommittee on Asia and Pacific (April 25), Representative Gary Ackerman succinctly voiced this unease: "[T]his morning we woke to a very dramatic shift in US policy. I fear that...we have moved from deliberate strategic ambiguity to strategic confusion... What does 'whatever it takes' mean? ... If Taiwan is attacked, are we at war? The President has made Taiwan less secure, not more secure."

Note: on May 12, the Washington Times reported that US intelligence officials were warning of possible preparations by China to conduct an underground nuclear test - allegedly of a new weapon, based on illicitly-acquired information concerning the design of the US W-88 warhead - at its Lop Nur site in Xinjiang province. The paper ran a similar story on April 9.

Reports: China strongly protests US arms sales to Taiwan, Chinese Foreign Ministry Statement, April 25; China warns arms sales to 'devastate' ties with US, Reuters, April 25; Bush Taiwan comments generate questions on Capitol Hill, US State Department (Washington File), April 25; China steps up nuclear test preparations - US paper, Reuters, May 12.