US ties with isolated Taiwan souring over China

TAIPEI, Aug 16 (Reuters) Taiwan, ridiculed by China at every opportunity and recognised by only a couple of dozen countries worldwide, has no stauncher ally than the United States, but goodwill appears to be in limited supply.

The United States, Taiwan's biggest trading partner and main arms supplier, has grown increasingly impatient since the island ignored its warnings against holding a referendum on UN membership alongside presidential elections next March.

For Washington, the self-ruled island, which Beijing has claimed as its own since their split in 1949 during a civil war, is needlessly provoking China by pressing for UN membership and grandstanding about formal independence.

The United States, increasingly entangled with China in economic relations and security issues including North Korea, is also annoyed at Taiwan's refusal to buy 18 billion dollar in advanced arms, even though a fraction of the bill was approved in June.

''They'll want to flex their muscles and show that they are not afraid of Washington,'' said Shelley Rigger, an East Asian politics expert at Davidson College in the United States.

But ''Washington's stock of goodwill towards Taipei has been so badly depleted in the past few years.'' Taiwan independence die-hards are unhappy the United States is trying to pressure President Chen Shui-bian to drop the planned referendum. The island has tried on many occasions to join the United Nations and failed every time.

China has vowed to attack the democratic island if it formally declares statehood and many Chinese academics have said the referendum crosses the red line.

Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979 under a ''one-China'' policy, but is obliged by the Taiwan Relations Act to help the island if it comes under attack.

US officials have urged Taiwan again and again to maintain the political status quo with its giant neighbour, that is, for Taiwan not to rock the boat and make noises about independence.

A US State Department official this week called the referendum an ''initiative that appears designed to change Taiwan's status unilaterally''.

Then Chen told a visiting US lawmaker he was ''baffled'' by US opposition and asked Washington not to draw a ''red line''.

There are other signs Washington might be getting frustrated with Taiwan, which has just 24 diplomatic allies, mostly tiny, poor countries, compared to China's 170.

The United States has criticised Chen's ''four wants, one have not'' statement in March, which suggested pursuing independence and dropping the China reference in Taiwan's official name, the Republic of China, as ''unhelpful''.

Chen might also be upset the United States offered him isolated Alaska as a refuelling stopover for a Central America trip this month rather than a mainland US city, experts say.

Chen feels that his ''back is to the wall'' in the face of US pressure, said Randall Schriver, a lobbyist and former US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

But the ruling party had enough support at home to defy the United States, said Kweibo Huang, who teaches international relations at National Cheng Chi University in Taipei.

''No matter what happens, their base is solid, so confrontational moves will become more numerous,'' Huang said.

But analysts do not expect any drop in relations to spark retaliatory actions or last beyond Taiwan's elections.

''What we are most concerned about is a steady drift where the United States is concerned about other issues,'' Schriver said, apparently referring to the Middle East and North Korea.

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