Word: standoff
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TIME.com: How is the Pentagon feeling about the outcome of the Hainan standoff...
...week after the April 18 meeting, President Bush is due to announce a decision on whether to go ahead with the sale of the advanced Aegis anti-missile system to Taiwan. Even before the Hainan standoff, stopping the Aegis sale had dominated Beijing's agenda, and it had been widely speculated in Washington that the administration would defer the Aegis question and instead supply Kidd-class destroyers, which are immediately available. That would also allow Washington to maintain the leverage of the Aegis decision, and in any case, the construction of the Arleigh-Burke-class destroyers that carry the system...
...only does it challenge Beijing to come up with a strong response, but more important, could severely weaken the hand of the moderates in Beijing who seek a good relationship with the West. President Jiang and his moderate allies eventually prevailed over their hard-line critics in the Hainan standoff, but their weakness was revealed along the way. And if the U.S. goes ahead with the Aegis sale, that will be taken in Beijing as proof of the failure of President Jiang's line, which could tilt the delicate balance in favor of the hard-liners and ultimately leave...
...standoff was resolved may have taught the administration that bellicose talk can be counterproductive. It may also force the administration to rethink the idea of deemphasizing China and putting more emphasis on relations with Japan and South Korea. Most of the administration's Asia experts right now are Japan specialists. But deemphasizing China carries the risk of neglecting a very important part of the strategic equation in Asia...
...China-sensitive posts in the White House, State Department, National Security Council and Defense Department will intensify. But just as the Hainan incident will inspire GOP hard-liners to take a tougher stand, it will also inspire the pro-engagement moderates to work harder in making their case. The standoff was difficult for them - China was behaving badly and very difficult to defend, and that cowed many engagement advocates into silence. The moderates are determined to avoid such blowups in the future, and ensure that if they do occur the damaged is minimized. To do that, they are going...