As Chinese premier Zhu Rongji’s visit drew to a close this weekend, supporters of China’s breakaway republic celebrated the 20th anniversary of the U.S. law that allowed it to sell arms to Taiwan.

“China understands that in order to have good relations, what Zhu wants with Clinton, they can’t adopt an aggressive policy towards Taiwan,” said Professor Thomas Metzger, a Hoover Institute fellow honored at the event sponsored by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco.

The office and several other branches nationwide have maintained only an unofficial consular presence over the two decades since the United States cut off formal ties with the Republic of China (as Taiwan is formally known) to establish ties with the People’s Republic of China. Yet experts said the Taiwan Relations Act, brokered soon after the diplomatic split, allowed U.S.-Taiwan relations to progress and checked Chinese aggression against the island nation.

“In the beginning no one considered the act seriously,” said political scientist Kuo-Chang Huang. But, he said, the United States became increasingly supportive of the act as Taiwan began to emerge as a model of Asian democracy. “Especially the older Americans began to feel that Taiwan was now a part of a civilized society and felt increasing obligation to support it,” he said.

“The Taiwan Relations Act has served both the United States and the Republic of China admirably for the past 20 years, said government spokesman Chien-jen Chen in a statement. “Today, the ROC shares similar values and ideals with the United States and stands as a prosperous and democratic nation ... [that] owes the United States a debt of gratitude.”

The act gave the Taipei government the status of a foreign country, allowing it to station representatives in the United States and giving it has access to U.S. courts and signature trade agreements and treaties. In the 20 years that the act has been in effect, bilateral trade between the United States and Taiwan has increased from $13 billion to over $60 billion, and Taiwan is now the United States’ seventh largest export market.

Among the U.S. exports are defensive weapons—a resource Taiwan maintains it still must have access to, especially after China in 1996 test-fired missiles over the Taiwan strait. The United States responded to the military maneuvers by sending two aircraft carriers and Congress passed number of resolutions opposing the PRC’s military maneuvers.

John Hsieh, who heads the Friends of President Lee Association (which supports President Lee Teng-hui), said China should not be underestimated in its resolve to retake the republic that Chiang Kai-Shek founded 50 years ago. “Zhu has still refused to renounce the use of force against Taiwan—that hurts our feelings. They need to respect the people of Taiwan.”

Now, both China and Taiwan seek membership in the World Trade Organization, the international group that sets global trading rules. Taiwan is a member of the Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation Forum and observer in GATT, and Congress has passed resolutions in support of its bid to join the WTO, the United Nations and the International Monetary Fund, but the Clinton administration has been reluctant to back such proposals, which would enrage China.

“China should help Taiwan gain entrance to the United Nations. Even if it is symbolic, we need it,” Hsieh said. “China should help Taiwan because Taiwan will come back and help the people of China. You need friends in the UN. They never treat Taiwan as a brother.”

Still, China remains opposed to such recognition, said Hsieh, even though both U.S.-China and U.S.-Taiwan relations have steadily improved. “China is not really willing to bring Taiwan back into the Chinese community. We are forced to be ashamed that we are Chinese, although we have the same blood, the same culture.”

In Taipei, hunger strikers continued fasting into this week to demand a law that would allow Taiwanese to vote on formal independence from China, with Chang Chun-hsiung, head of the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party’s legislative caucus, stating that the strikers had rejected an offer from the ruling Nationalist Party to discuss the bill.

“This is an insult, we cannot accept this meaningless change of agenda,’’ Chang, who is joining the strike on a ``flexible basis,’’ told reporters. About 100 hard-core supporters of Taiwanese independence launched the hunger strike Saturday, including a number of opposition party legislators, religious figures and political activists.

The Nationalists, who hold a strong majority in the 250-seat Legislature, say they are opposed to legal changes allowing plebiscites on the independence question, warning that could sharpen confrontations in Taiwan and anger China.

A plebiscite law has long been a key demand of the pro-independence opposition, saying that is the best way for Taiwan to democratically declare its formal and permanent independence from China, from which the republic broke away in 1949. Between 1895 and 1945, it had been a Japanese colony.

But China regards the island as unreclaimed territory and has threatened to answer any such declaration with force - a fact that could lead to the defeat of a referendum. Polls show the vast majority of Taiwanese favor maintaining the status quo of de-facto independence without further provoking China.

In January, Vice Premier Qian Qichen warned in January that holding a plebiscite would be ``like playing with fire,’’ and could bring on “Taiwan’s calamity.”