US-China Tension

["ÁÎ×Ó¹â HenryC.K.Liu ¹ù¤l¥ú" <hliu@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

U.S. Told Not To Mistake China For Yugoslavia

             BEIJING, Feb 4, 2000 -- (Reuters) The
             mouthpiece of the People's Liberation
             Army, furious over U.S. Congress passing
             legislation to boost military ties with Taiwan,
             warned the United States on Friday not to
             mistake China for Yugoslavia.

             "China is not Yugoslavia. And Taiwan is not
             Kosovo," the Liberation Army Daily said in
             a commentary, referring to the U.S.-led
             NATO bombing of Yugoslavia last year
             over atrocities against ethnic Albanians in the southern
province of Kosovo.

             The House of Representatives voted 341-70 on Tuesday in
             favour of the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act, which would
establish direct military communications between Washington and Taipei
and expand U.S. training of Taiwan military officers.

             On Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned U.S.
Ambassador Joseph Prueher to protest against the act and demanded the
United States curb the sale of advanced weapons to Taiwan.

             NO COMPROMISES

             The newspaper commentary said China would make good its
threat to invade if Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway
province, declared independence.

             "The Chinese government has never compromised in the least
on this kind of major issue of principle," it said.

             U.S. President Bill Clinton, anxious not to upset the
delicate
 balance between China and Taiwan, has threatened to veto the
 act if the Senate also votes in favor.

             Taiwan's Nationalist rulers, who fled into exile after
losing a civil war to the Communists on the mainland in 1949, have many
 friends in Congress. The United States has been the main arms
 supplier of wealthy and democratic Taiwan.

             In Washington, Liu Xiaoming, deputy chief of mission at the

 Chinese embassy said on Thursday the legislation would increase
 the chances of war between Taiwan and the mainland, possibly
 dragging in the United States.

             It would also encourage separatism on Taiwan, Liu said.

             George Tenet, director of the Central Intelligence Agency,
told a Senate hearing on Wednesday he saw "a high potential for yet
 another military flare-up across the Taiwan Strait this year" with
 the Taiwan presidential election on March 18 a potential catalyst
 for tensions.

             China menaced Taiwan with war games in the run-up to the
             island's first direct presidential elections in 1996,
prompting the United States to send two aircraft carriers to the Taiwan
Strait, a
 narrow strip of water separating the rivals.

             EXTREME DANGER

             The Liberation Army Daily splashed pictures of China
flexing its military muscle - successful tests of China's first atomic
bomb in 1964 and a submarine-launched missile in 1988 - alongside the
commentary.

             The newspaper commentary said the legislation was an
 "extremely dangerous signal".

             "It exposes the ambitions of some forces in the United
States to try to block China's reunification," the commentary said.
"This is, no doubt, playing with fire."

             "Not only will it not guarantee Taiwan's 'security', on the

contrary it will aggravate tension between the two sides of the Taiwan
Strait," it said.

             "It will also have a serious negative impact on China-U.S.
             relations," the commentary added.

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