If Chinese President Hu Jintao wanted to establish his role as newly appointed chairman of the state Central Military Commission, he could have chosen a far better way than to threaten Taipei with a needlessly harmful and provocative “anti-secession” law. The Bush administration reacted quickly and appropriately to the threat, but the damage to what had been improving relations between Beijing and Taipei has been done.

The election Sunday of President Hu to the military post was ceremonial. He succeeded Jiang Zemin as state president in March 2003 and as head of the party’s military commission last September. But his new anti-secession law authorizing the use of force against Taiwan should peaceful means fail was anything but ceremonial. The law changes the status quo of two separately governed entities and needlessly forces Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian into reacting.

Beijing may have been surprised to find that President Chen had broad support in his denunciation of the law. Though Taiwanese politics is often fractured, a poll this week found the president had overwhelming support for his stance on the measure. More support came from the European Union, which was ready to lift its arms embargo on China but is now reconsidering. In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the administration would “oppose any attempts to determine the future of Taiwan by anything other than peaceful means.”

Taiwan’s ongoing constitutional reform continues to make it more deeply committed to democracy, which Beijing may not like but knows better than to confuse with independence; both President Chen and Taiwan’s congress, the legislative Yuan, have been clear about that. And, if anything, Taiwan has worked to bring the two nations closer through trade. One of the results of the half-century standoff is that while China and Taiwan conduct a lot of business together, traditionally there have been no direct flights between them. Starting in 2003, charter flights began with plans this year for expansion. These are now imperiled, as is the good will that arrived with them.

The proper position for the United States is to insist Beijing back away from its law by reinforcing the peaceful, if not always tension-free continuation of the status quo. The Bush administration has stated that clearly and should be encouraged to continue its support of Taiwan’s continued democratic advance.