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| July 15, 2000 | atimes.com | ||
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China
Cohen walks into a Chinese minefield By Antoaneta Bezlova BEIJING - Differences over security issues between China and the United States ran deep as US Defense Secretary William Cohen wrapped up a visit aimed at rebuilding military ties frozen after last year's Nato bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. Twice during Cohen's five-day visit, China expressed dissatisfaction with US defense plans. First, Beijing blasted Washington's proposed missile-defense systems that could bring Taiwan under the US protection umbrella. Second, it reacted angrily to the announcement Thursday that Israel has canceled its planned $250 million sale of an advanced airborne warning system to China following pressure from the United States. ''No other country has the right to interfere in the bilateral cooperation that China has with other countries,'' said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao. ''Any agreement and understanding between states should be honored. This is the basic understanding of state-to-state relations,'' he told a press conference. The US had insisted that Israel scrap the sale of the sophisticated Phalcon radar system to China, which allows military users simultaneously to track and target large numbers of aircraft and other targets within a radius of some 300km. Military experts had warned that the radar system could threaten Taiwan's security and jeopardize US forces in a future conflict with China. Although the radar sale was seen by Israel as a major step forward in improving its budding relations with China, it had to cave in to pressure from Washington. Congressional representatives had threatened to cut US aid to Israel if the deal went through. The announcement of the ditched deal came as Cohen was going through already difficult talks with his guests over Washington's plans to develop National Missile Defense (NMD) and Theater Missile Defense (TMD) systems. China and Russia are the most fervent opponents of those plans. NMD is designed to protect vulnerable parts of the United States from missile attacks, while TMD is projected to shelter US and allied troops in Asia. Washington argues that it needs the missile systems to defend the United States not against Russia or China, but against unpredictable smaller powers like North Korea, Iraq or Iran, some with missile capabilities. But Beijing fears that such a missile umbrella could cover Taiwan, which it sees as a ''renegade province''. It also argues that the defensive missiles would cancel out China's small force of long-range missiles and compel it to build stronger nuclear-strike weapons. Russia had also warned that Washington's NMD and TMD plans could spark an arms race. While visiting the National Defense University in Beijing, Cohen was asked what the US's real motives were in pursuing the missile defense systems. The questioner pointed to the reduced threat from Pyongyang following last month's summit between North and South Korea. ''The North Koreans still present a military potential threat which is quite significant at this point and they still continue to develop aspects of their missile program,'' Cohen answered. He pointed out that the systems were also aimed at Iran and Iraq and not China. ''The characterizations in China of the United States as being a hegemon, a country determined to dominate the world and to contain and dominate China, it's simply untrue.'' Yet even as Cohen was delivering his speech at the university, the Chinese press was slamming US defense plans. A long editorial piece Friday in China Daily, the major English-language newspaper, described the US as a ''threat to world peace''. ''It is fair to say that the US's actions are the major cause of international disarmament setbacks,'' the article said. "The United States' attitude towards international disarmament and arms control betrays its true mentality - to make use of its military advantage to serve its own interests.'' Despite divergence of opinions between Washington and Beijing, Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian described Cohen's visit as significant ''at this historic juncture'' of a new millennium. ''The secretary's trip will help maintain the momentum of improved relations between the two countries,'' Chi said in his welcoming remarks. Cohen was the third high-level US official to visit Beijing in the past couple of weeks. This indicates that strained US-China relations are returning to normal, 14 months after warplanes of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. (Inter Press Service) |
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