TAIPEI, Taiwan, May 27 (UPI) -- China expects the United States to keep Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian in check, though it will keep military options open, according to a London think tank.
John Chipman, director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, made the remarks at a Tuesday press conference launching the institute's "Strategic Survey, 2003-04," eTaiwan News reported Thursday.
Chipman said Beijing saw Chen's re-election as a disaster, despite his inaugural pledges that planned constitutional reforms would not address the issue of sovereignty.
"Beijing's instinctive distrust of Chen will continue to overwhelm any sense of relief about such assurances. China will thus seek to reinforce military deterrence against Taiwan and work hard to ensure that American pressure on Chen is kept up," the Taiwan news report quoted him as saying.
Chipman added that Beijing hopes the controversy surrounding the circumstances of Chen's re-election will detract from his government's legitimacy and pressure it to downplay its radicalism.
But he warned, "If Beijing comes to believe that the two pressure points against Chen are weakening, its emphasis on the third, namely military deterrence, is likely to grow, albeit with the risk that this in itself may embolden pro-independence sentiment on the island," Chipman said.
