Jolt to China Policy Feared : U.S. Officials Worried as Taiwan Seeks Reagan Visit

WASHINGTON â€”  Taiwan has been seeking to persuade its old friend and longtime supporter, former President Ronald Reagan, to visit the island, and some U.S. officials are afraid that such a trip could unsettle the Bush Administration’s policy toward China.

A Reagan spokesman declined to rule out the possibility of a visit to Taiwan.

A senior Taiwanese official called on Reagan in California last spring to extend an open-ended invitation to the former President. Reagan is planning to visit Japan in October, and some Bush Administration officials believe he might stop in Taiwan during that trip.

“I would think he would consult with President Bush and get advice from the National Security Council and State Department� before visiting Taiwan, one U.S. official said Friday. “The symbolism of it at this time would be a matter of concern . . . . We don’t want to do things to drive (Chinese leaders) in Beijing to be more paranoid than they already are.�

Another U.S. source said that “our policy (toward China) is very fragile� at the moment. In the aftermath of the Chinese army’s June 3-4 assault on protesters in Beijing, he explained, the United States does not want to drive China toward a new foreign policy of isolation or toward a closer alignment with the Soviet Union.

Mark Weinberg, spokesman for Reagan’s office in Los Angeles, told The Times that Reagan “does not have plans� to visit Taiwan during his Japan trip.

But when asked whether it is certain Reagan will not visit Taiwan in October, Weinberg replied: “His itinerary is to travel from Los Angeles to Tokyo to Osaka to Los Angeles.� As for a later trip, the Reagan spokesman replied: “There are no plans at this time.�

Stephen S. F. Chen, deputy representative of the Coordination Council for North American Affairs, which represents Taiwan’s interests in the United States, confirmed that Taiwan has invited Reagan to visit.

“It’s just an invitation we extend to many, many statesmen,� he said. Asked whether the former president has replied yet, Chen said: “I’m not aware of any response.�

According to U.S. officials, Ding Mou-shih, Taiwan’s top representative in the United States and the Taipei government’s former foreign minister, went to see Reagan several months ago to discuss the possibility of a visit. Taiwan officials would neither confirm nor deny that Ding had seen Reagan.

Chen Defu, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, hinted Friday that China might protest if Reagan visited Taiwan.

“We are opposed to official or semiofficial exchanges with Taiwan by any country having diplomatic relations with China,� he said. Chen would not answer whether a visit by Reagan would amount to a “semiofficial exchange.�

No American President, vice president, secretary of state or former President has visited Taiwan since the United States restored diplomatic relations with China in 1979.

Was Staunch Taiwan Defender

Before becoming President, Reagan was a staunch defender of Taiwan’s Nationalist regime and a leading critic of the way in which the Jimmy Carter Administration granted diplomatic recognition to the Communist government in Beijing.

He visited Taiwan twice. In 1971, shortly after the announcement of Henry A. Kissinger’s secret trip to Beijing for the Richard Nixon Administration, Reagan was dispatched to Taiwan and several other Asian countries as a special presidential representative. He traveled to Taiwan again in 1978.

During the 1980 presidential campaign, Reagan suggested some upgrading of the unofficial ties between the United States and Taiwan.

Reagan’s election resulted in a two-year chill in U.S.-China relations. Eventually, his Administration reached an accommodation with the People’s Republic, and Reagan’s 1984 visit to Beijing was regarded as a milestone that effectively ended lingering conservative opposition in the United States to the policy of recognizing Beijing.

Nevertheless, Taiwanese officials remember Reagan fondly.

“We hold Mr. Reagan highly,� said Daniel Huang, a spokesman for Taiwan’s Washington office. “He has visited Taiwan twice before. We certainly will be very pleased and honored if he can make a trip to Taiwan to see the progress achieved during his absence. . . . Whether he travels there from Tokyo or from the United States does not matter.�