Posted on 05/11/2002 11:54:04 PM PDT by maui_hawaii
BEIJING (Reuters) - China accused the United States of breaching its sovereignty and intervening in its internal affairs with a defence bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, state media reported.
The official Xinhua news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying that provisions in the bill relating to Taiwan -- which Beijing considers a breakaway province -- violated the basis of Sino-U.S. relations enshrined in three communiques signed between the two.
"The provisions constitute an infringement on the sovereignty of China and intervention in its domestic affairs, which is unacceptable to the Chinese government and people," Xinhua quoted Kong Quan as saying.
He said China had made its position clear by making "solemn representations" to the United States.
The House passed the defence authorisation bill for fiscal year 2003 by a vote of 359 to 58 on Friday. It sets the parameters for defence spending and is worth $383 billion, which includes the full amount requested by U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) to develop a missile defence system.
The controversial missile shield has drawn fire from China, worried an anti-ballistic missile umbrella could emasculate its small nuclear deterrent and be stretched to cover Taiwan.
Washington shifted diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but remains the island's main arms and trading partner.
U.S. military dealings with Taiwan have increased under Bush to the ire of Beijing, which has vowed to reunite the free market democracy with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Kong called parts of the bill "anti-China" and said it could damage bilateral relations.
"China urges the U.S. government to realise the possible serious consequences of the anti-China provisions and adopt effective measures to prevent them from being made into law, lest it cause serious damage to Sino-U.S. relations," he said.
To become law, the bill must be passed by the U.S. Senate, which unveiled a defence bill of its own on Saturday that reflected different priorities and presages a struggle with the Republican-led House.
The Senate bill also cuts some $800 million from Bush's $7.8 billion request to develop the missile defence system.
Under the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques, Washington recognises Beijing as the sole legal government of China and pledges to reduce arms sales to Taiwan, but advocates a peaceful resolution to the issue.
IMO the 3 communiques are a sandy foundation for relations. They are relics of the Cold War and should be eliminated.
Then we need to issue continued straight out support for Taiwan including giving the option for independence. "The US shall remain neutral...but our defense of Taiwan shall remain constant and consistent..."
We should issue a new policy paper to replace those communiques.
For America to insistently endorse a 'one China' policy when in reality 'one China' throughout all of history has been highly elusive is quite foolish.
We should have our Asia/defense policy formed with the afore mentioned realities taken into account.
My one fear is that Washington will feel a need to placate their caterwauling.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com
So sorry Beijing. rofl
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