CHINA ACCORD COLLAPSES
U.S. stillscratching
By MICHAEL CHINOY
WASHINGTON, D.C.. J U L Y h
28 (PNS)-When President Ford'
visits China this fall to farther
normalize Sino-U.S. relations,
the biggest hurdle he'll face is
the growing American involve-
ment in Taiwan.
In 1972, President Nixon's his-
toric trip to China was wtidely
interpreted as a decisive break
in traditional U.S. backing for -
the Taiwan-based Chinese Na-
tionalists (or Kuomintang-KMT).
But over the last three years,
Washington has not only main-
tained full diplomatic ties with
Taiwan - but dispatched top-
ranking political envoys, in-
creased arms sales, and en-
couraged investment by major
U.S. corporations.
T h e s e developments have
caused anxiety in Peking, where
Chinese leaders fear an Ameri-
can retreat from the Shanghai
Communique signed by Presi-
dent Nixon and Chinese Premier{
Chou En-lai in 1972. The Com-
munique appeared to reverse .:
nearly a quarter century of firm
American support for the GMT's
claim to be the legitimate gov-
ernment of all China. The U.S. Nixon and Mao, an elusive pact: A Chinese Performing Art
was expected to then disengage this spring included a song with the line, 'We are determine
itself from Taiwan and move partment insisted that the song be dropped. The Chinese re
towards full diplomatic relations -
with the People's Republic. ever. U.S. arms sales have port ships, Washington has
nearly doubled to $80 million, tended a $200 million milit
BUT THREE years later, one- thanks to long-term low interest credit to enable NorthrupC
quarter of the 8i-man Ameri- credits. While Taiwan has paid poration to assemble 100 F
Taiwan, and U.iS . economic ties cash for several U.S. subma- jet fighters on the island. Th
single-seat jets, each costing
with the island are tighter than rines, destroyers and fleet sup- million, are designed to eon
Taiwan
AP Photo
s Troupe scheduled to tour the U.S.
d to liberate Taiwan.' The State De-
fused and the trip was cancelled.
ex-
ary
Cor-
5-E
ese
$2
nter
The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by Students at the
University of Michigan
Thursday, July 31, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
Gradl'y doors. a smash
I IKE SMOKING, excessive drinking, and over-eating,
studying in the Graduate Library may be injurious
to your health.
The new glass entrance doors to the Gradl'y have
been responsible for a foot legion of stubbed toes, several
knocks on intellectual nogens and keeping at least one
person in stitches.
As in much of modern architecture, the designers of
these entrance doors gave aesthetics higher priority than
practicality or basic safety. The doors are heavy, awk-
ward and deceptively placed in the building in such a way
as to cause spatial perception problems to entering library
patrons, many of whom blithely misjudge the end of the
door and the beginning of the glass wall, and stride con-
fidently into the former.
The library officials have done nothing to protect
students from the dangerous.doors except place yellow
plastic tape on the glass. It would be far too costly to
redesign the building entrance, and besides, the architect
maintains that it still looks nice (at least, once the
samples of AB positive are cleaned off).
UNCORRECTED, THIS hazardous situation promises to
develop glassy-eyed stares and thick-headedness in
new proportions on this campus.
And even given the seasonal decrease in the number
of sandalled feet and bare heads, the problem will in-
crease in severity in the fall with the increase in the
number of vulnerable craniums and toes passing through
the portals of knowledge.
The only recourse to entering students is to learn by
painful experience to habitually use the back door, or
rent a leader dog to guide them safely as far as the
reference stacks.
Returning students will find that they have been
unknowingly enrolled in a school of hard knocks. The
only advice available is that what you don't know, but
ae trying to learn, can indeed hurt you.
the MIG-17 and MIG-19 planes
of China's Air Force.
China sees both the long-term
military aid programs and the
slow pace of the American troop
withdrawal as proof of continu-
ing U.S. commitment to the
1954 U.S.-Taiwan Mutual De-
fense Treaty. Designed at the
height of the Cold War, the
treaty c o m m i t s the United
States to help the Chinese Na-
tionalists in t h e i r struggle
against a "common danger."
ACCORDING to Senate Ma-
jority Leader Mike Mansfield,
who recently returned from his
second trip to China, "the ob-
vious intent of the Shanghai
Communique anticipated o u r
military disengagement f r o m
Taiwan." The U.S. defense
treaty with Taiwan, Mansfield
said, "is properly seen as a relic
of the past."
Nonetheless, American offi-
cials interviewed in Washington
argued that with the recent
American debacle in Southeast
Asia, ending the treaty now
could have serious repercus-
sions. Washington's ability both
to maintain its "commitments"
and to protect a long-time ally
could be questioned. This makes
rapid disengagement from Tai-
wan unlikely. According to one
official, the issue is "on the
back burner these days."
U.S. trade with Taiwan-$3.7
'snback
billion last year-is still well
above that with China, and ris-
ing. U.S.-China trade last year
reached a little over $900 mil-
lion. American investment on
Taiwan has also expanded-with
lord Motors and Union Carbid
planning major new projects,
the Export-Import Bank financ-
in, the construction of two nu-
clear power plants, Gulf and
Amoco exploring for oil in the
Taiwan S t r a i t s, and several
American banks opening up new
branches.
WHAT MOST agitates China,
however, are political moves by
the U.S. that reaffirm its ties
to the Nationalists.
Since the Shanghai Commu-
nique, the U.S. has appointed
one of its most prestigious-
and politically conservative -
foreign service officers, Leon-
ard Unger, as its ambassador
to Taiwan, and has approved
the opening of five new Taiwan
consulates in Kansas City, At-
lanta, Portland, G u a m and
American Samoa.
Then, last April, under pres-
sure from conservative leaders
like Senator Barry Goldwater,
President Ford replaced Agri-
culture Secretary Earl Butz with
Vice President Rockefeller as
head of the American delega-
tion to the funeral of KMT lead-
er Chiang Kai-shek.
American officials argue that
growing U.S. links with Taiwan
reflect no retreat from the
Shanghai Communique. "We've
made it absolutely clear that we
are going to proceed with the
process of normalization of rela-
tions with the People's Repub-
lic," said one official. But-in
direct contrast to general under-
standings of that term-he add-
ed that this meant primarily a
broadening of exchanges and
economic ties - not the estab-
lishment of formal diplomatic
relations.
AT THE MOMENT, there ap-
pears to be no clear consensus
within the Ford Administration
over how best to advance Wash-
ington-Peking relations.
The Chinese have warned
many visiting Americans, in-
cluding Mansfield and House
leaders Carl Albert and John
Rhodes, that any further pro-
gress will hinge on substantive
reduction in the U.S. commit-
ment to Taiwan. To empha-
size the point, a Chinese Per-
forming Arts Troupe scheduled
to tour the U.S. this spring in-
cluded a song with the line, "We
are determined to liberate Tai-
wan." The State Department in-
sisted that the song be dropped,
bit the Chinese refused, and the
trip was cancelled.
Yet some U.S. officials argue
that China needs the American
relationship even more than the
Americans need China-as lev-
erage against the Sviet Union.
Both countriesttherefore could
easily accept the continuation
of the present situation-with-
out a major breakthrough on the
Taiwan problem.
The work of freelancer
Michael Chinoy has appear-
ed in the Nation, the Boston
Republic and other publica-
tions. He visited China in
1973, T a i w a n in 1974.
Copyright, P a c i f i c News
Service, 1975.
Letters should be typed
and limited to 400 words.
The Daily reserves the
right to edit letters for
length and grammar.
Contact your reps-
Sen. Phillip Hart (Dem), Rm 253, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol
Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Sen. Robert Griffin (Rep), Rm 353, Old Senate Bldg., Capitol
Hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
Rep. Marvin Esch (Rep), Rm. 412, Cannon Bldg., Capitol
hill, Washington, D.C. 20515.
NO Mf*rl HOW *YW SL"er.1..1
t02:l. 0b '
1$e6g ..1