The Aim of America's Arms Sales to Taiwan

A few days ago, some of America’s politicians were actively egging the Obama administration 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 President Obama has 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 upon 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, especially 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 on 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 viewing its own hegemonic interests as being above the sovereign interests of China. As we become furious over this, we must clearly recognize that America’s arms sales to Taiwan actually reflect the United States’ strategic trends toward China.

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

Second, America’s thinking of viewing Taiwan as a strategic chess piece in containing China’s development has not changed. Not too long ago, some in America’s 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 forward the Taiwan Policy Act of 2011, which requires the strengthening of the Taiwan Relations Act and calls for providing greater military and economic support to Taiwan. This reflects the basic mentality among a good portion of Americans who are once again viewing Taiwan as a strategic chess piece in the containment of China.

Third, the goal of viewing 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 latch by which China’s navy can enter the Pacific Ocean. As long as this latch is tightly closed, the Chinese navy cannot easily enter the Pacific. Therefore, America’s goal in arming Taiwan to contend against the mainland is the strengthening of this latch. This will shut China’s navy in at the first island chain.

Fourth, America’s attempt to break up China by secretly indulging in encouraging Taiwan’s independence has not changed. On the surface, the U.S. welcomes an easing of the tensions between the mainland and Taiwan, but internally is full of displeasure and vigilance. The U.S. closely follows the development trends between the mainland and Taiwan and from time to time passes on orders to Taiwan’s Kuomintang and Democratic Progressive Party. Ranking member of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs Howard Berman stated that according to the U.S. Department of Defense’s recently announced 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 strength imbalance, Berman strongly believes the U.S. needs to continue providing weapons to Taiwan so that it will have the capability to defend itself.

Fifth, America’s economic-strategy 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, it first and foremost will be a spearhead for America’s East Asian and Chinese strategy. Second, this huge sum of money from the arms sales will also save America’s F-16 fighter jet production line, which is on the verge of being shut down, thus bringing Washington lots of tax revenue. In this sense, the Taiwan issue has become a highly profitable cash cow.

Representative Berman said whether or not the U.S. conducts arms sales is its own sovereign right and 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.