by Patrick J. Buchanan – July 7, 1998

A collision between the United States and China over Taiwan now seems certain. And Bill Clinton’s gratuitous assertion in China that the United States opposes Taiwan’s membership in any organization that requires nationhood as a condition makes it more certain.

Why did Clinton have to pander? Apparently, Taiwan had been given assurances he would do nothing to harm its interests while in China. Yet the president went out of his way to recite China’s “three noes”: no U.S. support for Taiwan independence, no U.S. recognition of a separate Taiwanese government, no backing of Taiwan’s entry into international organizations.