http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010516/wl/arms_usa_china_dc_5.html
BEIJING (Reuters) - A U.S. envoy left China on Wednesday after a fruitless bid to win support
for President Bush's missile defense plans and with scathing accusations of anti-China
``provocations'' ringing in his ears.
The Bush administration decision to let Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian meet U.S. lawmakers
when he transits in the U.S. next week was a ``despicable breach of trust and commitment,'' the
official English-language China Daily newspaper said.
``Allowing Chen to stay in the United States and meet U.S. lawmakers is the latest example in a
growing list of U.S. provocations directed at China,'' the Communist Party paper said in an editorial.
Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly said in a departure statement that his talks on Tuesday
were ''constructive,'' but implied -- as the Chinese Foreign Ministry had made plain -- there was
no meeting of minds.
``Although we clearly still have differences of opinion, our consultations on this subject were
constructive and constitute a good beginning to what both sides agreed would be a continuing
dialogue on these important security issues,'' Kelly said.
IMPLACABLE OPPONENT OF BUSH PLAN
``I stressed that our plans for a missile defense system would not be a threat to China,'' he
added, ``rather, our approaches are intended to defend against threats or attacks from rogue
states as well as from accidental or unauthorized launches.''
But the Chinese Foreign Ministry made clear that nothing Kelly said to the Chinese team, which
included top disarmament diplomat Sha Zukang, would budge Beijing.
``China's constant position is unchanged,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi told a news
conference on Tuesday before Kelly's talks were over.
Sun did not spell out China's unstated fears that a missile shield would negate Beijing's small
strategic nuclear arsenal.
But he made clear China was not prepared to soften its opposition to a National Missile
Defense (NMD) scheme and a Theater Missile Defense (TMD), proposed to protect allies such
as Japan or U.S. troops in northeast Asia.
``We are opposed to the National Missile Defense because it destroys the global strategic
balance and upsets international stability,'' Sun said.
Zhu Feng, one of several Chinese scholars who met Kelly over dinner on Tuesday, said he told
the U.S. envoy Bush was more effective than his predecessor in explaining the thinking behind
NMD, but that China would still fear being Marginalised by it.
``It sounded better than Bill Clinton, but to China, it's not a good message,'' Zhu, director of
Peking University's International Security Program, told reporters and diplomats.
TAIWAN INDEPENDENCE FEARS
Sun said China was ``more opposed to TMD'' because it would strengthen U.S. military
alliances in Asia beyond legitimate defense needs -- a reference to U.S.-Japan security ties and
joint studies of missile defenses by Washington and Tokyo.
``We more strongly oppose calls by some people to involve Taiwan in TMD, which would
violate China's sovereignty,'' he said of the now democratic island Beijing regards as a province
that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Kelly said his talks also covered bilateral irritants such as Taiwan, human rights and the Hainan
spy plane dispute.
The China Daily blasted Bush's promises of arms sales to Taiwan and his vow to do ``whatever
it took'' to defend Taiwan if China were to attack, saying they would embolden separatists.
``The U.S. government should know how untrustworthy it has become and what message it has
sent to Taiwan,'' it said.
The range of activities and the permission to meet legislators mark a departure from the policy
of the previous U.S. administration, which imposed tight restrictions on visiting Taiwanese leaders.
Zhu said U.S. arms sales made China suspicious of U.S. demands that it renounce the military
threat toward Taiwan, because Beijing believes dropping the option to use force would remove
the only obstacle to the island opting for independence.