“
The US has to work
with
other countries, including
China,
in
areas like
c
ounter
t
errorism
,
non-prolif
eration
,
anti-money laundering
and
infectious
disease
control
,” he said.
“
It
can’t expect China to cooperate
whenever
it makes a demand
while
it is
hurting China’s interests
.”
This year’s
arms
deal is relatively small
compared with previous
years
and it involves maintenance and spare parts,
which will not make much difference to the power
balance across the strait
,
said
Pang
Zhongying
, a foreign affairs expert at the Ocean University of China.
But
he said
it was the
timing
of the
announcement that had
infuriated Beijing
,
coming so soon after
the
sanctions
were imposed. This will be the second US arms deal to Taiwan
under the administration of US President Donald Trump after it agreed to sell a US$1.4 billion weapons package, mainly missiles, to the island last year. Hong Kong-based military commentator Song
Zhongping said
there was likely to be a
much bigger
and
more sensitive
deal
announced
next year
–
possibly including
the powerful
M1A2 tanks
that
Taiwan
has
asked for
–
after
the US
Congress passed the
N
ational
D
efence
A
uthorisation
A
ct,
pledging to sell more
weapons to the island
.
“US arms sales
to Taiwan
are a
long-term matter
. The smaller deal this year means
they
could be building up to challenge Beijing with something bigger
in the future,” Song said.
But, the plan deescalates tensions and builds strategic trust
Kenneth
Lieberthal 12
, Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy and in Global Economy and Development and is
Director of the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, March 2012, “Addressing U.S.-
China Strategic Distrust,” No. 4, March,
-
content/uploads/2016/06/0330_china_lieberthal.pdf
)
Reducing distrust
over Taiwan:
Both sides want to work toward a peaceful resolution of existing differences
between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait
.
U.S.
weapons sales to Taiwan are viewed
in Washington and Taipei as
a necessary ingredient for sustaining the confidence of U.S. support in Taipei necessary for Taipei to continue to develop wide ranging cross-
Strait relations. Those same sales
in Beijing
are viewed
as confirming
American
arrogance
and
determination to
interfere in China’s domestic affairs
and to
prevent peaceful unification
from occurring, thereby
harming a
clearly-articulated
Chinese core interest
.
Washington and Beijing should engage in serious
discussion
of the overall security situation surrounding the Taiwan Strait.
Lack of
such
discussion has contributed to
having each side make worst case assumptions in their acquisition and deployment of military resources,
enhancing
mutual distrust
and
ultimately
potentially
reducing the chances
of
maintaining the
peace
in the
Taiwan
Strait
that both sides desire
.
