BY ROBERT MILLER
China's prime minister, Li Peng, warned Washington to keep its naval forces away from the Taiwan Strait. Speaking at the conclusion of the National People's Congress, China's legislature, on March 17, Li stated, "If someone makes a show of force in the Taiwan Strait, that will not only be a futile act, but it will also make the situation all the more complicated."
"If someone threatens the use of force against China, this - as has been shown by past experience - will not spell any good results," Li said.
A U.S. naval battle group centered around the aircraft carrier Independence is stationed east of Taiwan. Another battle group, led by the carrier Nimitz, was dispatched to the area from the Persian Gulf. This is one of the largest U.S. armadas sent to the region since the end of the Vietnam war.
The Clinton administration is not precluding that U.S. ships may enter the Taiwan Strait. Speaking on the CBS News program "Face the Nation," White House chief of staff Leon Panetta said on March 17, "I am not going to tell you one way or the other where the carriers are going." Another U.S. official told Reuters that Washington retains its right to move through international waters near the strait.
In December, the Nimitz, accompanied by other warships, sailed through the 100-mile-wide strait between mainland China and Taiwan. It was the first such excursion of a U.S. carrier group since 1979, when the U.S. government cut off diplomatic relations with Taipei and recognized Beijing as the only government of China.
A third round of Chinese military maneuvers began on March 18 in the Haitan island group off the mainland coast. China has declared a large part of the Taiwan Strait as a military exercise area and has warned international shipping and aviation to stay away. The New China news agency announced that the "Chinese People's Liberation Army will conduct joint ground, naval, and air exercises in and over a sea area" covering much of the northwest part of the Taiwan Strait. These military exercises are scheduled to last through March 25, two days after the presidential elections in Taiwan, and will surround Taipei-controlled islands near the mainland.
Taiwan's president Lee Teng-hui, who is expected to win the March 23 election, has made greater international recognition for Taiwan - and possibly outright independence - the focal point of his campaign.
The Chinese workers state regards Taiwan as a break-away province. Taipei was set up as a separate entity by the fleeing forces of the defeated Nationalist Party of Chiang Kai-shek, following the successful revolution in 1949 by China's peasants and workers.
"What is most important is that the leader of Taiwan, no matter how he is selected, refrain from carrying out actions aimed at creating two Chinas or leading to independence for Taiwan in the future," China's premier said.
China's Foreign Ministry also denied that it had given Washington assurances it would not attack Taiwan. "China has never promised to abstain from resorting to arms," said ministry spokesman Shen Guofang.
"U.S. involvement has inspired a wave of criticism, particularly from ethnic Chinese in Asia," reported the Wall Street Journal March 15. The Oriental News, Hong Kong's largest paper, complained that Washington's apparent support for Taipei might make Beijing more determined to force reunification of Taiwan.
The Journal noted "strains of anti-U.S. sentiment are evident in Taiwan as well." A full-page newspaper ad entitled "Where is dignity?" recalls the days when U.S. soldiers were stationed in Taiwan: "Think about the past, when the bars...were filled with American soldiers. Our sisters, our daughters, where was the dignity?"
On March 15, 200 military veterans staged an angry protest in Kaohsiung outside Lee's headquarters. They accused Taiwan's president of provoking China and demanded he resign. Reflecting divisions among Taipei's ruling circles, another candidate for president, Lin Yang-kang, accused Lee of dragging Taiwan to the brink of war. About 5,000 of his supporters marched through Taipei on March 17 denouncing Lee.
The next day, 50 people took part in a protest in Taipei outside the American Institute, protesting U.S. intervention. They burned U.S. flags and a model of an aircraft carrier. Similar protests took place outside the U.S. Consulate General in the British colony of Hong Kong, which reverts back to Chinese sovereignty June 30, 1997.