-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Crash widens US-China rift John Gittings in Shanghai Monday April 2, 2001 The Guardian The weekend's aerial clash between a US surveillance plane and Chinese fighter jets came at a delicate moment in US-China relations, as the Bush administration adopts a harder line towards Beijing. The tension has been increased in particular by the US claim that China is adding to its missile force aimed at Taiwan and Beijing's accusation that Washington is planning to sell Taipei advanced anti-missile equipment. Taiwan has been lobbying hard in Washington for four guided missile destroyers equipped with the hi-tech Aegis battle management system. The sale of the Aegis long-distance radar system would amount to the recognition by all sides that Washington intends to equip Taiwan with a missile defence system, and it is bitterly opposed by Beijing. A decision on the sale is expected within three weeks. "This has to be resolved very quickly. It's a serious matter," Senator Chuck Hagel, a senior Republican foreign affairs specialist, said yesterday. "We are at a very delicate point in our relationship with China. How this is handled will go a long way [in determining] the future of that relationship." The Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, has warned the US that it is inviting a new arms race, saying: "The more weapons you sell, the more we will prepare ourselves in terms of our national defence. That is logical." Beijing strongly denies that it is building up its missile force against Taiwan. It says the report has been fabricated by an "anti-China lobby" to justify the US supplying Taiwan with the Aegis system. Relations between the two countries have also been strained by the defection of a Chinese colonel to the US, and the arrest in China of a number of Chinese-born scholars with American connections. Colonel Xu Junping, an official in the ministry of defence, has been described as the most senior military defector from China. At least two Chinese-American scholars are being held after being detained separately in February, the US embassy in Beijing has confirmed. There is speculation that this may be a tit-for-tat measure in response to Col Xu's defection. The future of the strategic relationship between the US and China is also in doubt as the Pentagon moves towards upgrading the Pacific as the most likely theatre of future conflict. The defence secretary, Donald Rumfeld, supports this new course, which casts China as the principal adversary. While issuing strong warnings against the supply of missile defence systems to Taiwan, senior Chinese officials have tried to avoid comment on the broader US strategic shift. The deputy prime minister, Qian Qichen, reiterated Beijing's conviction that the two countries could be friends when he visited Washington and met Mr Bush. Diplomatic advisers in Beijing have so far been successful in persuading the leadership to give Mr Bush time to adjust. But observers believe that this moderate line is unpopular in the military and security services and will be impossible to maintain if the US sells the Aegis system to Taiwan. Any military incident on China's maritime borders, such as yesterday's aerial clash, touches on extremely sensitive nerves in Beijing. Patriotic anger may be quickly aroused by actions which may seem to infringe Chinese sovereignty in the South China Sea, as well as over Taiwan. The Chinese army has shown in the Taiwan Strait crisis of 1995-96 that it is prepared to run a higher risk. Beijing refuses to renounce the "use of force" in the area, saying that this is not a threat to Taiwan but to those who may try to intervene to frustrate its reunification. Both China and the US regard the South China Sea as of immense strategic importance. China strongly asserts its claim of historical sovereignty over the Nansha (Spratly) and other island groups - and what it is describes ambiguously as the "adjacent sea areas". The US regards the sea lanes in the area as critical strategic interests where free passage of oil and other commercial resources must be defended. On the detention of the academics, China says Gao Zhan, a US-based sociologist held since February 11, has confessed to "damaging state security." Li Shaomin, an American who works at Hong Kong's City University, has been held since February 25, after crossing the border to China proper. Another Hong Kong academic, Xu Zerong, has been missing since last August, it was confirmed at the weekend. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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