House members say standoff makes arms sales to Taiwan more likely

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The spy plane standoff poses a serious threat to Chinese-American relations and could prompt members of Congress to act quickly to provide military equipment to neighboring Taiwan, according to some Republicans on Capitol Hill.

"The requested sale of Aegis-class destroyers becomes more likely," said Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Nebraska, the second-ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the former chairman of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.

"This is a serious event in Sino-American relations and may be a very important negative event in our relationship," Bereuter said. "The Chinese story about what happened lacks credibility. This is an old aircraft (the U.S. EP-3 surveillance plane) ... and the Chinese (plane involved) is a jet aircraft. Normally when you have close contact of a surveillance plane it's the responsibility of the faster plane to avoid a collision ... So the concept that this EP-3 (caused the crash) is not credible."

Coincidentally, a bipartisan group of members sent a letter Tuesday to the Bush administration urging the sale of weapons to Taiwan.

"We strongly support and recommend that your administration recognize the legitimate need for Taiwan to acquire the Arleigh Burke Aegis destroyers," the letter reads, "and that you give full consideration to the release of this system to Taiwan this year."

The letter is signed by 82 House Democrats and Republicans. The Bush administration is scheduled to meet with Taiwanese officials later this month to discuss that potential sale.

On the Senate side, members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence were briefed yesterday on the China plane situation.

One Republican aide said senators are deeply troubled by the situation. "If China wants to behave like a rogue nation, ignoring all the conventions of international law, this will indicate to us that they seek confrontation over cooperation," said the aide, "If they want to get members of the U.S. Senate upset over relations with China, this is the way to do it. "

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is scheduled to meet Tuesday on an unrelated matter and aides expect the China issue may be discussed.

While expressing concerns, Republican members of Congress were careful not to criticize the administration's handling of the current standoff.

Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas, called the situation "dangerous," but said, "This is the president's business. The president of the United States should conduct foreign policy."

In a related matter, the House will debate a resolution Tuesday related to the human rights situation in China. The resolution urges the U.N. High Commission on Human Rights to pass a resolution urging China to end human rights violations in China and Tibet.

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