What are the aircraft career battle groups for?

Taiwan was very grateful for the two similar battle groups President Bill Clinton sent to its waters in 1996.

Lee Teng-hui was the first president of the Republic of China to visit the United States in June 1995. He visited his alma mater Cornell University to deliver an Olin lecture on Taiwan’s experience in democracy. That visit so antagonized Beijing that his re-election in the subsequent year was considered an anathema to its supreme cause of Chinese reunification.

Thereupon, the People’s Liberation Army started test-firing surface-to-surface missiles in waters close to major ports in north and south Taiwan on March 8, 1996. The missile tests, which lasted eight days, were the first of a series of war games to intimidate the electorate in Taiwan ready to vote over their first head of state less than three weeks away. On March 12, a nine-day maneuver, involving naval warships and air squadrons, got under way in an area of the Taiwan Strait only 70 kilometers from the Pescadores or Penghu. Six days later, on March 18, the Chinese began another eight-day exercise off the coast of mainland China. These war games involved ground, air, and naval forces in a simulated amphibious operation against Taiwan. President Clinton, concerned about the military threat to Taiwan, sent the two naval task forces to the waters near Taiwan to show American support. It was not exactly a military confrontation between the United States and the People’s Republic of China, but Beijing under Jiang Zeming’s rule backed off. The presidential election was held as scheduled, and Lee won, garnering 54 percent of the vote.

There isn’t any such emergency across the Taiwan Strait. Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang was elected president on March 22. In the lead-up to the election, the People’s Liberation Army did not test-fire any cruise missiles, lobbing them across Taiwan into the Pacific Ocean. Nor were any military exercises held. In fact, Beijing took caution not to make mention of anything that might be construed as an intimidation to the people of Taiwan. Chinese President Hu Jintao tried what he could to avoid being another Jiang Zemin. Jiang, Hu’s predecessor and mentor, helped Lee outpoll his rivals overwhelmingly in 1996 by trying to intimidate the voters in Taiwan.

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email