THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 12, 1996 TAG: 9603120271
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE: BEIJING LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
China's foreign minister warned the United States Monday against intervening in Beijing's escalating dispute with Taipei and blamed Taiwan's leaders for heightened tensions in the area.
``It is ridiculous for some people . . . to call openly for interference by the (U.S.) 7th Fleet or even for protecting Taiwan,'' Foreign Minister Qian Qichen said at a news conference. ``These people must have forgotten that Taiwan is a part of China and not a protectorate of the United States.''
The United States said Sunday it was sending a second group of ships to the area in response to China's military exercises off the coast of Taiwan. The group is led by the carrier Independence.
It will be joined by the nuclear-powered carrier Nimitz and an attack submarine and other escort vessels from the Persian Gulf. They are to reach the South China Sea by the end of next week, shortly before Taiwan's first-ever presidential election, on March 23.
In an hourlong session, Qian warned President Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan that efforts to win a seat for Taiwan in the United Nations and otherwise expand Taiwan's diplomatic reach are tantamount to seeking independence - efforts that Beijing is determined to oppose, with military force if necessary.
The Chinese foreign minister reacted with indignation to Secretary of State Warren Christopher's statements that China's recent military threats against Taiwan, including missile tests near the island, are ``reckless'' and ``irresponsible.''
``When I meet him,'' Qian said of Christopher, ``I would ask him if the United States has made a decision to criticize China on its military exercises as a `reckless' and `erroneous' move. I would also ask the United States if their decision is reckless and erroneous.''
Qian argued that tensions between China and Taiwan had risen ``precisely because of the erroneous decision by the United States'' to grant a visa to the Taiwan president to allow him to visit Cornell University, his alma mater, last year.
Qian acknowledged that China was trying to intimidate Taiwan and affect the March 23 vote, in which Lee is running for re-election.
In Taiwan, government spokesman Jason Hu welcomed the U.S. ships as good for Asian peace and said Taipei does not want war, the Reuter news agency reported.
``We hope that the Chinese Communists can stop their military exercises, and only in this way can they avoid hurting the interests of the Asian region,'' he said after a top-level government meeting on the crisis.
Taiwan went on heightened alert.
In the United States, Sen. Bob Dole, campaigning for today's Republican presidential primary in Florida, said: ``I support sending a strong signal to China. In a sense, they may be testing the president.''
At the same time, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., said in Atlanta that the administration must take ``a more careful and more cautious view.''
``I think that we want to avoid escalating the tension and running the risk of serious confrontation,'' Gingrich said. ``Hopefully people will calm down this week and back off some.''
At the Capitol, a dozen senators met for an hour over lunch with a Chinese delegation led by vice foreign minister Liu Huaqiu. Liu would not speak to reporters afterward. , but the senators said the Chinese insisted the United States had nothing to fear from the exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
With the Nimitz preparing to depart the Persian Gulf and steam toward Taiwan, the Navy planned to use the Norfolk-based carrier George Washington to take its place in patrols near southern Iraq.
A defense official said the George Washington, along with the cruiser San Jacinto, the attack submarine Scranton and two support ships, should arrive in the gulf next week, a few days after the Nimitz departs. The ships have been in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean seas since their deployment in January, supporting the NATO peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.
In the gulf, the George Washington's planes will join in patrols to enforce a ``no-fly zone'' in southern Iraq. The United States and its allies have barred Iraqi warplanes from the skies in that area since the 1991 gulf war.
A Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard the amphibious ship Pelileu, which had been part of the Nimitz battle group, will remain in or just outside the gulf and will link up with the George Washington, a defense official said.
The amphibious ship Guam, which deployed with the George Washington, will remain in the Adriatic. The Guam and its Marines have been serving as a reserve force for the NATO peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. Even with the George Washington gone, officials said ample American and NATO air power remains available at bases in Italy and Germany to support the Marines and Army forces already on the ground in Bosnia. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen warned Taiwan that efforts to
expand its diplomatic reach are tantamount to seeking independence,
which Beijing will oppose - with force, if needed.
Maps
Area shown: USS Washington to Gulf
USS Nimitz to Taiwan
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