Asians express concern over China-Taiwan crisis
Asians express concern over China-Taiwan crisis
HONG KONG (Reuter): Asian officials and political commentators
voiced growing concerns yesterday over heightening China-Taiwan
tensions and urged restraint on all sides.
While China increased its military threats and the United
States sent more warships to the region, most commentators and
officials still believed the crisis would end peacefully.
Some, however, felt the increasing aggressiveness was in
danger of gaining unstoppable momentum.
A Tokyo official expressed concern that the antagonism might
escalate to such an extent that "the two sides find an excuse for
using their military strength".
Calls for restraint came from many sides, including Vietnam.
Australia's new Deputy Prime Minister, Tim Fischer, told
reporters: "You have to be concerned about the level of tension
that has developed in recent days and recent weeks between China
and Taiwan."
A.P. Venkateswaran, a former Indian foreign secretary who has
also served as India's ambassador to China, questioned
Washington's will to protect Taiwan.
Beijing said on Saturday that more war games would be staged
from today to March 20 in the Taiwan Straits. Military sources on
Sunday warned of further exercises to deter separatism in Taiwan
after the island's March 23 presidential elections.
The United States on Sunday said it was beefing up a naval
task force in the area, and the Washington Post reported
yesterday a second naval force would join forces in the area.
In Tokyo, a defense ministry official told Reuters: "The
Chinese action would certainly raise tension in East Asia. But we
believe that China is not in a stage yet where it will resort to
force. Fortunately Taiwan has remained calm so far."
But the official, who declined to be identified, was concerned
"that China and Taiwan might escalate mutual antagonism to the
level where the two sides find an excuse for using their military
strength".
In Hanoi, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "Vietnam hopes
that self control by all sides could help to avoid regrettable
consequences. Peace and stability in the region should be
maintained in line with the aspirations, and for the benefit of,
the peoples of the countries in the region."
In New Delhi, former ambassador Venkateswaran told Reuters:
"The Chinese always test the other person's will and in the last
years they have found that the American will has more or less
collapsed."
Citing the U.S. stand towards China's human rights record and
its transfer of military technology and missiles to Pakistan, he
said: "These are all signs that told the Chinese that America can
be taken for a ride."
He said Taiwan was being abandoned. "When China shows the
gumption to walk across the Straits of Taiwan, it will succeed.
"Taiwan will be left to fend for itself and the pressure from
China will speed up till the day Taiwan will fall like a ripe
fruit on the lap of the People's Republic of China.
In Jakarta, Dewi Fortuna Anwar, a political scientist with the
government-run Indonesian Academy of Sciences (LIPI), said China
seemed not to care about international opinion.
"It is very worrying because when we want to set up a rule of
conduct among countries in the region, the first thing everyone
should agree is to renounce the use of threat to use force," she
said.
Anwar said China's actions had cast a cloud over the fate of
the oil-rich Spratly islands, claimed wholly or in part by
Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
"China is quite restrained (over the Spratlys) at the moment
but what if it feels it has to have absolute sovereignty... and
what if there is oil and gas in the Spratlys?"
Singapore's Straits Times said the crisis would intensify but
war was unlikely. "If China dispatched troops without a just
cause, its economic development would be affected and both the
mainland and Taiwan would stand to lose much."
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Asian Editor David Lague said
China's actions were designed merely to intimidate. "Beijing will
not invade as it does not have the military capacity to land
sufficient troops on the island," he wrote. "But it may resort to
missile strikes and air and naval blockade.