------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the April 5, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- U.S ARMS SALES THREATEN CHINA By Sarah Sloan At the end of a week-long visit to the U.S., Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen, China's top foreign policy official, warned that U.S. sales of sophisticated weapons to Taiwan could lead to a sharpening of conflict between the U.S. and China. Speaking to a lunch of 300 business people and foreign policy experts, Qian said, "If weapons were sold to that region [Taiwan], it would be like adding fuel to the flame. ... There is already a spark there. If you pour oil and fuel over this spark, the spark would turn into a great flame. ... We don't want to see the flame of war there." In the first meetings between the Bush administration and a senior Chinese official, Qian met with George W. Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials. The main impetus for these meetings is the annual sale of U.S. weapons to Taiwan, negotiated in secret based on unofficial ties. These sales are a violation of the 1972 Shanghai Communique signed between then-President Richard Nixon and the Chinese government. In this agreement, the U.S. recognized the sovereignty of the People's Republic of China over Taiwan. Under consideration for sale are, among other hardware, four guided missile destroyers armed with cruise missiles. The destroyers are equipped with AEGIS, a ship-based system for detecting and shooting down incoming missiles. This system could be built into a theater-based National Missile Defense. Bush will make the decision next month as to whether the sale will be made. China's cause for concern includes a more "hawkish" position taken by the Bush administration. While Clinton spoke of China as a potential "strategic partner," Bush characterizes China as a "strategic competitor." While there may be a tactical difference within the U.S. government between more hard-line militarists who want to sell the AEGIS system and more, and the "moderates" who favor integrating China into the world economy, their objective is the same. They seek to dismantle the socialist economic system and return China to a neocolonial status. NEW ARMS RACE THREATENED During his visit, Qian spoke of "friendly relations and cooperation" between the U.S. and China, but he also warned that the decision to sell the AEGIS would mark a "very serious" setback in relations. Chinese President Jiang Zemin echoed this sentiment when, on the day that Qian returned to China, he told the Washington Post that the sale of the AEGIS would be "very detrimental to China-U.S. relations. ... The more weapons you sell, the more we will prepare ourselves in terms of our national defense. This is logical." Jiang also said that the U.S. leaders "think their own political system should be applied to every corner of the globe. That is a very wrong idea, and the idea itself is very undemocratic. ... If the 1.2 billion [people in China] can get enough to eat and have proper clothing and shelter, that would be a great contribution China has made to the world. ... And so in the meantime, it is also a contribution to bringing about stability in the whole of Asia and the wider world." China's military spending is 5 percent that of the U.S., one- third that of Japan and less than half that of England. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
