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Updated Friday, November 13, 2009 10:10 am TWN, By Dennis V. Hickey, Special to the Los Angeles Times

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U.S. can use arms sales as chips

Obama should not bow to Chinese pressure and scuttle the idea of F-16 sales. Rather, the warplanes should be used as bargaining chips. The administration ought to explore the possibility of agreeing to a deal similar to that proposed by then-President Jiang Zemin to President George W. Bush in 2002. Namely, the U.S. should agree not to sell advanced fighters to Taiwan in exchange for the removal of the 1,500 ballistic missiles that China has deployed directly opposite Taiwan. Such an initiative could yield numerous dividends.

For starters, China probably would seriously consider this proposal, because removal of the missiles would generate a lot of goodwill among the Taiwanese people and the weapons no longer could be cited by local politicians as evidence of China's hostility. In fact, Taiwan has stated repeatedly that the mainland must either “remove or dismantle” the missiles as a precondition for any negotiations toward a peace agreement.

In Taiwan, removal of the missiles would provide officials with tangible evidence that the policy of cooperation and conciliation with the Chinese mainland is working. The current leaders would be able to more easily move forward with other measures aimed at rapprochement and enhance their prospects for reelection.

Moreover, the move would enable Taiwan to reduce the level of arms purchases from the United States. Officials in Taipei acknowledge (and sometimes complain) that they are pressured by the U.S. to “do more” to provide for their own defense. But they note that arms purchases are linked directly to the threat posed by the mainland. Taiwan's Defense Ministry has conceded that the removal of the missiles would prompt the island to “make adjustments on military procurements and research and development.”

U.S. officials have long emphasized that arms sales to Taiwan can serve as a stabilizing factor in East Asian affairs. In this instance, approval of the high-profile F-16 sale would jeopardize relations with China, undermine core American interests and help spark an arms race across the Taiwan Strait. But if the U.S. uses the prospect of dropping such sales as a bargaining chip to persuade China to remove the missiles, it would help reduce cross-strait tensions, pave the way for closer Sino-American relations and promote peace and stability in the western Pacific.

The choice should be obvious.

Hickey is a professor of political science at Missouri State University.

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