The Aim of America’s Arms Sales to Taiwan

A few days ago, some of America’s politicians were actively egging the Obama administration on to launch a new round of arms sales to Taiwan. Recently, America’s Washington Post quoted an anonymous American government and Congressional official as saying that U.S. President Obama had already decided to sell approximately $4.2 billion worth of weapons supplies to Taiwan, including the parts for upgrading F-16A/B fighter jets.

Since such an action touches China’s core interests, China has continued to oppose the sale of such arms to Taiwan and has urged the U.S. to strictly abide by the Sino–U.S. joint communiqué, particularly principle 8.17 of the communiqué, which stipulates a cessation of weapons sales to Taiwan. If the American government sells weapons to Taiwan again it will be another trampling of the Sino–U.S. joint communiqué and will have a very harmful effect on Sino–U.S. relations.

Over the past few years, America has ignored the national sentiment of the Chinese people and their wish for unification by repeatedly selling arms to Taiwan and viewed its own hegemonic interests above the sovereign interests of China. As we become furious over this, we must clearly recognize that America’s arms sales to Taiwan are actually a reflection of the U.S.’s strategic trends toward China.

First of all, the U.S. views Taiwan as a vital point in the strategic layout of East Asia, and its consideration of Taiwan as a counterweight for maintaining the strategic balance of its Eastern Asian hegemony has not changed. A couple days ago a Washington think tank published a paper titled “Asian Alliances in the 21st Century,” which stated that if Taiwan falls into Chinese hands then Asia will be cut in two, not only jeopardizing America’s command center in the Asian Pacific region, but also resulting in the South China Sea becoming China’s own internal sea. Japan would also lose its strategic depth.

Second, America’s view of Taiwan as a strategic chess piece for containing China’s development has not changed. Not too long ago some members of American political circles asserted that now is the time for the U.S. to relinquish its grip on Taiwan. But on Sept. 6, Chairwoman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Ileana Ros-Lehtinen put forth the Taiwan Policy Act of 2011, which would require the strengthening of the Taiwan Relations Act and call for providing greater military and economic support to Taiwan. This reflects the basic mentality of a large portion of Americans who are once again viewing Taiwan as a strategic chess piece for containing China.

Third, the goal of using Taiwan as a barrier to stop China’s navy from entering the Pacific Ocean has not changed. The U.S. sees Taiwan as a type of portal by which China’s navy can enter the Pacific Ocean. As long as the latch is tightly closed, the Chinese navy cannot easily enter the Pacific.Therefore, America’s goal to arm Taiwan to contend against the mainland is done by strengthening this latch. This will shut China’s navy in at the first island chain.

Fourth, America’s attempt to break up China by secretly encouraging Taiwan’s independence has not changed. On the surface, the U.S. welcomes an easing of tensions between the mainland and Taiwan, but internally it is full of displeasure and vigilance. The U.S. is closely following development trends between the mainland and Taiwan, and from time to time passes on orders to Taiwan’s Kuomintang and Democratic Progressive Party. A ranking member of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Howard Berman, stated that according to the U.S. Department of Defense’s recent report on China’s military strength there exists an obvious imbalance between mainland China and Taiwan, with the balance favoring mainland China. In order to deal with the threat of this military imbalance, Berman strongly believes the U.S. needs to continue providing weapons to Taiwan so that it will have the ability to defend itself.

Fifth, American economic strategy’s intent on using the Taiwan issue to exploit economic interests has not changed. If the U.S. government approves this round of arms sales to Taiwan, the deal will be first and foremost a spearhead for America’s East Asian and Chinese strategy. This huge sum of money from the arms sales would also save America’s F-16 fighter jet production line, which is on the verge of being shut down, thus bringing Washington significant tax revenue. In this sense, the Taiwan issue has also become a highly profitable cash cow.

Rep. Berman said that whether or not the U.S. conducts arms sales is its own sovereign right and it does not tolerate the meddling of other nations. It is here that we need to point out to Americans that Taiwan is part of China’s internal affairs and is a part of China’s core interest. It does not allow any nation to interfere in this, regardless of that nation’s hegemonic power!