precarious. 8 Confined by various commitments, the authorities in Washington have restricted arms sales to Taipei. The consequence has been an increasing imbalance in military potential between the ROC and the PRC in the Taiwan Strait. Should any Congressional initiative, under whatever pretext, further impair Taipei's access to arms purchase in the United States, the consequences might be incalculable. Conclusions Any suggestion that sanctions be imposed on the Republic of China on Taiwan as a consequence of the tragedy that befell Henry Liu in October 1984 is, at the very best, premature. No probative evidence has been forthcoming that the government of the ROC was in any way involved in the murder. Moreover, the authorities in Taipei have been more than forthcoming in assisting U.S. investigation of the homicide, allowing American officials to conduct their investigations in Taiwan in the pursuit of evidence. Whatever the case, however, the imposition of sanctions on the ROC that might affect the ability of the ROC military command to maintain its self-defense capabilities would seriously impair U.S. interests in the region. The U.S. Congress is urged to be very circumspect in imposing sanctions that might undermine the viability of the ROC. That ! China. impairment would threaten the human rights of 19 million Any threat to the survival of the ROC would be a threat to the security interests of the United States. The Taiwan Relations Act specifically identifies the ROC as a security asset and its position on the critical waterways to Japan and the Republic of Korea makes its importance evident. It is common knowledge that the ROC is one of the major economic partners of the U.S. in the Pacific Basin. The ROC is not only a major source of commodity imports into the United States, Taiwan is also a major agricultural commodities market for U.S. products. None of this should be threatened for anything less than compelling reasons. Systematic human rights violations--a persistent and certifiable pattern of such violations as evidence of government policy--might well constitute just such a reason. All the evidence indicates, however, that the At best, any action by the United States government as a consequence of the unfortunate Liu case, in terms of sanctions against the authorities in Taipei would be premature. Whatever its failures in the past, the government of the Republic of China on Taiwan has been sensitive to U.S. concerns with respect to fundamental, civil and political human rights. As we have seen, in the judgment of the U.S. Department of States, the "outlook for continued improvement in human rights [on Taiwan] appears favorable." Any actions on the part of the government of the United States which would obstruct that improvement, by increasing the measure of threat under which the government in Taipei must operate, would be counterproductive. Any imposition of sanctions would contribute to the measure of threat--and should be abjured. They would do nothing to increase the availability of human rights on Taiwan, and could very well threaten very fundamental U.S. and Chinese interests. Notes to the Henry Liu Murder Case 1. See the discussion in A. James Gregor and Maria Hsia Chang, The Republic of China and U.S. Policy: A Study in Human Rights (Washington, D.C.: Ethics and Public Policy, 1983). 2. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1979 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1980), p. 526. 3. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1983 (Washington, D. C.: Department of State, 1984), p. 756. 4. See the testimony of A. James Gregor, before this subcommittee in Martial Law on Taiwan and United States Foreign Policy Interests (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1982), pp. 7-46. 5. See the comprehensive discussion in Raymond D. Gastil (editor), Freedom in the World: Political Rights and Civil Liberties 1983-1984 (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1984). 6. In this regard, see the discussion in Hungdah Chiu, Chinese Law and Justice: Trends Over Three Decades (Baltimore: University of Maryland School of Law, 1982) and Socialist Legalism: Reform and Continuity in Post-Mao People's Republic of China (Baltimore: University of Maryland School of Law); Tao-tai Hsia, "Legal Development in the People's Republic of China, 1949-1981," in Hungdah Chiu and Shao-chuan Leng (eds.), China: Seventy Years After the 1911 Hsin-hai Revolution (Charlottesville: University of Virginia, 1984). 7. For a discussion of the importance of the ROC to American interests, see A. James Gregor and Maria Hsia Chang, The Iron Triangle: A U.S. Security Policy for Northeast Asia (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1984). 8. Martin L. Lasater, Taiwan: Facing Mounting Threats (Washington, D.C.: Heritage Foundation, 1984), and A. James Gregor, "U.S. Interests in Northeast Asia and the Security of Taiwan," Strategic Review, Winter 1985. |