Let US feel the heat over arms sales to Taiwan
- Source: Global Times
- [23:58 January 31 2010]
- Comments
Beyond making a formal protest and calling off military exchanges between China and the US, Beijing is considering sanctions against American defense companies engaged in arms sales to Taiwan.
China has both the power and determination to do so.
China's repeated warnings in the past didn't prevent the US from selling sophisticated defensive weapons, some with offensive functions, to Taiwan Island over three decades. Washington probably assumes that China does not really have the counterattacking capability to hurt the US.
Selling weapons to Taiwan has touched the raw nerve of China's territorial integration. While calling a halt to the defense dialogue between the two countries, China should let the US know that the price to be paid by Washington for the arms sale would be very heavy.
The US and other Western powers have often adopted economic sanctions as a way of punishing governments and business entities that go against their policies and political interests. Chinese companies have been frequently targeted for allegedly acting in violation of US interests. For decades, China has been under an embargo imposed by the West.
Sanctions can be an effective alternative to other hard-line measures to deal with a diplomatic dispute. As the world's third largest economy, with phenomenal market potential, China should not hesitate to use the leverage offered by this muscle to initiate punitive economic measures against companies violating China's core interests.
Some question whether China could be serious about imposing sanctions. Punitive economic measures would provoke retaliation and may trigger a trade war, which can put China, the world's largest exporter, at a disadvantage.
It would be pointed out that the Chinese public is not of one mind when foreign companies are at odds with the Chinese government. And calls for boycott of foreign companies that engaged in separating-China activities didn't always fall through.
It would be folly to underestimate Chinese unity over the Taiwan question. Punishing companies that sell weapons to Taiwan is a move that would be supported by most Chinese. On this, the Chinese government's decision would win the unanimous public support.
Most of the US companies that are involved in weapons sales to Taiwan also have business interests in the Chinese mainland. The Harpoon missiles, for example, are products of Boeing Co, which expects China to be the second largest market after its home country. Lockheed Martin, builder of the Patriot missile, also produces air control systems for the mainland.
The US selling weapons to Taiwan probably won't stop in the near future regardless of who sits in the White House.
It's time the US was made to feel the heat for the continuing arms sales to Taiwan.
