What To Do About China?
President Bush struck an appropriately firm note in his remarks following a visit by U.S. diplomats to the American naval airmen held by the PRC (in violation of international agreements to which they are signatories) after their plane was damaged by Chinese fighters over international waters. “It is time for our servicemen and women to return home. It is time for the Chinese government to return our plane… The crew members expressed their faith in America, and we have faith in them,” the president said. He gave China time to respond, but said his “grace period” was running out.
President Bush struck an appropriately firm note in his remarks following a visit by U.S. diplomats to the American naval airmen held by the PRC (in violation of international agreements to which they are signatories) after their plane was damaged by Chinese fighters over international waters. “It is time for our servicemen and women to return home. It is time for the Chinese government to return our plane… The crew members expressed their faith in America, and we have faith in them,” the president said. He gave China time to respond, but said his “grace period” was running out.
The deputy secretary of state summoned China’s ambassador to discuss the matter, and the State Department apparently has a range of options in the event China does not act quickly. The options, which officials said have not reached the president’s desk, include canceling his planned trip to Beijing and withdrawing some diplomats from China.
But these are “soft” options, likely to increase China’s sense that it can negotiate some benefits before returning our people. [You can already forget the aircraft.] What would China want? “Restraint” on Taiwan arms sales? They’ve already asked for apologies and an admission of wrong doing by U.S. officials, and promises not to track China’s increasingly aggressive military operations in the South China Sea and Taiwan Straits.
The U.S. position will not get better than it is today in fact it will quickly erode if this becomes a negotiation over terms. What then can the administration do to signal China that it is moving in the wrong direction by making demands?
The U.S. has many leverage points and needs to be prepared to use them. For example:
1. Aggressively patrol the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait with fighter aircraft to send a message to China’s Air Force that the next time they want to play bumper cars, the price will be high;
2. Send an official U.S. military delegation to Taiwan to assess Taiwan’s “readiness” as a signal to the Chinese leadership that their rude military action against the United States has immediate political consequences
3. Freeze all high technology export licenses to China and ask our allies to do the same. [Actually, we should do that anyhow on general principles.]
Each of these would convey a message to China’s leadership that their violations of international law will have swift and serious consequences. Each would also reassure Taiwan that we wouldn’t sell them out in any drawn out confrontation with China. None should jeopardize the well being of our service personnel. In fact, prompt U.S. action ought to help win their early release.