http://www.boston.com/dailynews/099/world/Taiwan_Spy_plane_dispute_shoul:.shtml

Taiwan: Spy plane dispute should not affect weapon sales to Taiwan

By William Foreman, Associated Press, 4/9/2001 01:57

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) In his first public comments about the U.S.-China spy plane dispute, Taiwan's president said on Monday that he hoped the standoff would not influence American decisions to sell weapons to this island.

The United States is expected to decide this month about whether it will sell advanced weapons the Taiwanese have requested in annual arms talks in Washington. China has been aggressively lobbying American leaders not to approve the weapons sales, warning that such deals would severely harm U.S.-China relations.

President Chen Shui-bian told Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., that he hoped Washington would quickly resolve its dispute with China over the U.S. spy plane that collided with a Chinese jet on April 1 over the South China Sea.

Chen also said that the spy plane issue should be kept separate from Washington's decision about arms sales to Taiwan.

''I hope it will not have any influence'' on the decision, Chen told Rockefeller on Monday.

Some analysts say that serious U.S.-China disputes, especially ones about military issues, can haunt Taiwan in the long run. When the two sides patch up relations, Washington might make concessions on Taiwan to please Beijing.

Rockefeller also said he was concerned the dispute would affect U.S.-Taiwan weapons sales, and the senator said he has urged the government to keep the two issues separate, according to a news release issued by the Taiwanese president's office.

Since the Communist Party took over China amid civil war in 1949, Taiwan has refused to accept Beijing's rule. Chinese leaders have given the island an ultimatum: eventual unification or war.

The United States is obligated by law the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to sell Taiwan weapons the island needs for its defense.

This year, the Taiwanese are requesting destroyers equipped with the U.S. Navy's most advanced radar system. They also want submarine-hunting planes and diesel-powered submarines, among other weapons.

Officials from both sides have declined to discuss the negotiations.

On Monday, the Taiwanese president noted that the United States and China have confidence-building measures hot lines between militaries or base-touring exchanges, for example that helped prevent the spy plane dispute from rapidly escalating into an armed conflict.

The Taiwanese leader said that China and Taiwan are in a dangerous position because they do not have confidence-building measures.

''If such an incident happened in the Taiwan Strait, the consequences would be hard to imagine,'' Chen said.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001