The upgrading of US-Taiwan military relations seriously threatens China's sovereignty.

Taiwan-based newspaper United Daily News recently revealed that a so-called "hotline" for dealing with "military crises," proposed by the United States as early as 1996, was eventually established between the Taiwan military and the US Department of Defence in the second half of last year.

This mirrored the fact that US-Taiwan military co-operation has gradually been transferring from US arms sales to Taiwan towards tactical co-operation and a strategic alliance.

The establishment of the "military hotline" is but one of a string of moves by Washington to upgrade its military relations with Taiwan.

It sends the wrong signal to the island's pro-independence forces and jeopardizes the one-China policy as well as the political foundation of Sino-US relations.

Taiwan, an integral part of China, is not Washington's military sphere.

The Taiwan question is one involving China's sovereignty and territory integrity.

Despite its explicit commitment made in three Sino-US communiques, the United States never severed its military connections with Taipei over the past decades. It has gone even further at a time when the island's separatist forces, led by Lee Teng-hui and Chen Shui-bian, have been seeking "gradual independence" more boldly and overtly than ever before.

According to the Bush administration, the maintenance of the cross-Straits military balance is important because it is a guarantee of "absolute peace" in the Taiwan Straits.

Following that logic, the United States has an indispensable role in maintaining peace across the Taiwan Straits.

However, the fact is the fantasy of independence held by Taiwan authorities would not have run so rampant without US connivance.

Taiwan would not have become such a big question at all had the United States not intervened.

The United States is even taking Taiwan as a quasi-ally in the West Pacific.

Neither its claims to adhere to the one-China policy nor its upgrading of military co-operation with the island have gone beyond Washington's traditional strategic thinking regarding the Taiwan question.

Neither a united China nor a war across the Taiwan Straits fits in with the United States' perception of its own interests in the Asia-Pacific region.

Some US strategists believe that a unified China would have the potential to challenge US strategic advantages in East Asia. However, any military conflict across the Taiwan Straits would possibly involve the United States, which is definitely not what Washington wants. Therefore, there is a perception that US interests are best served by the status quo of the separation of Taiwan from its motherland, along with the subsequent tension that will bring.

That explains why, while admonishing Taiwan against declaring independence, the United States has always vowed to intervene if the mainland resorts to force for the nation's reunification.

The mainland has made it crystal clear it would not use force unless the island declares independence or foreign military intervention takes place.

It is fully justifiable for a country to defend itself when its territorial integrity is threatened.

(China Daily September 30, 2003)