Nick Smith, April 25, 2004

The United States has pursued a so-called "One China" policy since the early 1970s when President Nixon opened up relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC). My International Relations Committee reviewed this policy at a hearing with prominent officials from the State and Defense Departments along with experts outside of government. It accepts that Taiwan and the PRC are parts of a single country to which both claim sovereignty. We are also committed to a peaceful resolution of these conflicting claims, which mostly entails defending Taiwan from potential PRC aggression.

The United States has been committed to defending any attack on Taiwan, since the Korean War, when President Eisenhower signed the Mutual Defense Treaty. This expired in 1979 and Congress replaced it with the Taiwan Relations Act. The Act declares our commitment to sell Taiwan weapons necessary for its defense, and our will to counter threats to Taiwan. Over the last decade, the PRC has built its military capacity directly across the strait from Taiwan, including basing hundreds of missiles that could reach Taiwan in minutes. The PRC has also conducted threatening military exercises in the strait, the most recent being joint naval exercises with France immediately before the March elections.

The Taiwanese people have watched this buildup and have responded to the implied threat. Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian, who represents a party that has traditionally supported Taiwanese independence, was elected in 2000 and very narrowly reelected in March. He has supported a more defiant line against the PRC and its threats. He also raises PRC’s fears that Taiwan could declare itself independent, which would end the One China policy that has helped maintain the peace. The PRC has threatened to launch an attack on Taiwan if this were to happen.

The situation holds dangers for the United States. While we have traditionally sympathized with democratic Taiwan over the communist and authoritarian PRC, we do not want a military conflict that could quickly involve the United States. On the one hand, it is uncomfortable, and perhaps futile, to tell Taiwan or the PRC what to do. On the other hand, we do not want the situation to escalate.

A conflict in the Taiwan Strait would also harm the world economic system, as both the Taiwan and the PRC are important international markets. Also, shipping lanes in the South China Sea, which is adjacent to the Taiwan Straits, would be affected, disrupting a large percentage of the world’s international trade. That’s why the US has to stay involved and why the European Union (EU) should reject France’s bid to lift the EU ban on weapons sales to the PRC. The PRC faces no serious threats to its security. Any weapons purchased would be used either to threaten Taiwan or deter the United States from intervening to protect Taiwan. EU nations need to focus more on preventing damaging conflict than profiting by it.

I have visited both Taiwan and the PRC and spoken to their leaders to remind them how much they have to lose from a war. Taiwan is one of the world’s great economic success stories in the 20th century, and the PRC is replicating that success in the 21st century. A war would bring all that progress to a screeching halt.

Congressman Nick Smith, a Republican, represents Michigan's 7th Congressional District, which includes Battle Creek and the counties of Branch, Eaton, Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Calhoun, and Washtenaw in south-central Michigan