Hard Words in Response to Some Hard Words : U.S. takes a tougher line after China threatens Taiwan

The Clinton administration has put China on firm notice that its military threats against Taiwan are irresponsible and could undercut Beijing’s relationship with the United States. The warning was precisely the signal needed from an administration whose policy of “strategic ambiguity” toward China and Taiwan is being severely tested by an increasingly belligerent Chinese regime.

The message was made clear both in substance and form in order to get Beijing’s full attention. It was delivered openly Tuesday in Washington by Defense Secretary William J. Perry, the U.S. official China respects most. Perry reiterated the U.S. commitment to constructive engagement with China but warned that “we are not committed to engagement at any price.”

Perry’s remarks were the latest in a series of messages, private until now, stressing the potential consequences of China’s recent military threats against Taiwan. His statement was the strongest indication that the United States might intervene if China attacked Taiwan. But the administration has not abandoned its strategy designed to keep Beijing off guard and deter hostility between the Communist-ruled mainland and the island government controlled by the Nationalist Party.

The People’s Liberation Army has been conducting military exercises in and around the Taiwan Strait as the Nationalist government prepares for its first direct presidential election, on March 23. China’s saber-rattling is aimed in part at discouraging an independence movement in Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province. Its hard-line strategy could backfire by fueling, instead of subverting, these attitudes and sabotaging its own hope to reunify Taiwan and the mainland. For Beijing, the policy seems counterproductive.

Indeed, Beijing’s approach to Taiwan as well as its increasingly obstinate and contradictory actions on arms controls and human rights does nothing to promote its international standing. As Perry noted, China does not live up to its claim to be a responsible world power when it threatens Taiwan and exports military technology to Pakistan. The United States has repeatedly tried to engage Beijing in high-level dialogue on these issues, but China has set up one condition after another to frustrate and delay the process.

The administration has now gone public with its frustration. “It takes two to tango,” Perry said. “It takes two to engage.” His was a clear message to those Chinese officials locked in a power struggle to succeed the ailing paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Chinese hard-liners are flexing their muscles to keep the military with them and against their opponents, who are promoting economic growth and international cooperation.

Their preoccupation with internal politics comes at the expense of key international priorities and issues. The United States is committed to its one-China policy, but the administration has said that this position is based on the assumption that Beijing would act peacefully toward Taiwan. China has threatened Taiwan before, but now the words are more ominous--and not for Taiwan alone. Would China actually attack Taiwan? A responsible and reasonable Beijing would not. But the Clinton administration, like others before it, has not ruled out the possibility that the United States might intervene militarily to help Taiwan in any attack.

Perry’s statement signaled a hardening in the administration’s approach. Part of the problem, however, has been the administration’s own fluctuating policy. Now the focus is becoming sharper. Frustration is running high, especially in Congress, on dealing with China in all spheres of relations. As Beijing and Taipei prepare for the Chinese New Year, a new spirit of cooperation and goodwill is desirable. This will be the year of the rat. Will Beijing take on the negative Western attributes of the symbol?