Neo-cons cry 'appeasement' over Taiwan
By Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON - In an extraordinary split with US President George W Bush, a neo-conservative-dominated think-tank close to administration hawks released a statement on Tuesday afternoon accusing the president of "appeas(ing)" China on Taiwan.
The statement by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was released just a few hours after Bush publicly chastised Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian for planning a referendum on whether to ask Beijing to renounce the use of force against the island and remove the almost 500 missiles pointed at it. The proposed referendum is timed to take place on the same day as the March 10 presidential elections in which Chen hopes to be re-elected.
"We oppose any unilateral decision by either China or Taiwan to change the status quo, and the comments and actions made by the leader of Taiwan indicate that he may be willing to make decisions unilaterally to change the status quo, which we oppose," Bush declared during a brief question-and-answer period with reporters with visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao seated next to him.
Analysts said Bush's statement did not reflect a substantive change in US policy, but the directness - some said brutality - with which it was expressed came over as unexpectedly harsh, particularly his reference to Chen as "the leader of Taiwan" rather than as "president", a formulation that must have caused considerable satisfaction to Wen. Indeed, the Chinese premier expressed appreciation for Bush's words, as noted by Chris Nelson, an Asia specialist who writes an influential daily newsletter much read by US officials and embassies from the region.
PNAC, whose alumni include Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld among other senior administration officials, reacted with outrage.
Its statement, signed by PNAC chairman and Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, PNAC co-founder Robert Kagan, and its executive director, Gary Schmitt, assailed Bush for failing to address Beijing's missile buildup and recent threats by senior defense officials there to go to war if Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, takes additional steps toward independence.
Questioning whether Chen's proposed referendum was designed to change the status quo, the three asked, "Can it be President Bush's position that Taiwan is not permitted to hold any democratic referenda on any subjects whatsoever?"
They then went on to attack Bush's statement as a "mistake", adding the dreaded "A" word that neo-conservatives have bludgeoned their worst political opponents with for the past 30 years. "Appeasement of a dictatorship simply invites further attempts at intimidation," they wrote. "Standing with democratic Taiwan would secure stability in East Asia. Seeming to reward Beijing's bullying will not."
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