AIT Head Criticizes Arms Purchase Delay

Taiwan Government News, The Legislative Yuan has been using a “series of domestic excuses” to explain away its “inability to pass the arms procurement bill,” a senior U.S. official in Taiwan charged on Thursday, stressing that both the opposition and the ruling parties on the island should be blamed for the impasse. 
 
Director of the American Institute in Taiwan Stephen Young, at a press conference in Taipei, insinuated that Taiwan's continued reluctance to approve the multi-billion Taiwan dollar arms package offered by U.S. President George W. Bush six years ago in the face of protest from China, will lead other countries to think that Taiwan is “not serious about its own defense.” 
 
The offer, made in 2001, includes six PAC III anti-missile systems, eight diesel-fueled submarines and 12 P-3C Orion anti-submarines aircraft. 
 
The arms package, already approved by Taiwan's Ministry of Defense, has been tied up in the Legislative Yuan ever since it was first introduced by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in June 2004. Some pro-ruling party newspapers have accused the opposition of “holding the bill hostage to serve its own interests.” 
 
However, the opposition parties have said that the acquiring the weapons will only thrust Taiwan into an arms with China, a race they say Taiwan is bound to lose. 
 
Young claimed that Taiwan “has not responded appropriately” to the steady buildup of the military force across the Taiwan Strait and the inaction has caused Taiwan's friends, including the U.S., to “question whether Taiwan is serious about maintaining its own defense.” 
 
Young said he is “puzzled by the reticence” of the Taiwanese politicians, especially on a fundamental issue such as national security. He called on the ruling and the oppositions parties to “put aside the partisan differences and pass the (arms) budget” that politicians across the party spectrum have claimed they want to see effected. 
 
Speaking about his recent trip to Washington D.C., he noted that Dennis Wilder, the senior director for East Asian Affairs on the White House National Security Council, last week said that the U.S. does not support any move by the governments on either side of the strait to develop offensive weapons. 
 
He said some media reports claimed that the U.S. had approved the use of long-ranged offensive missiles in the recent Huang Kuang military exercise. The reports even went as far as saying that the U.S. has offered to name the new system. 
 
“I want say categorically, here, on behalf of the U.S. government that those stories are inaccurate,” he stated. The U.S. does not and will not support the development of offensive arms on either side of the strait, but it would be the “right thing” for Taiwan to boost its own defense system, he stressed. 
 
The AIT chief reiterated the U.S.' commitment to security and stability in the Taiwan Strait, adding that any unilateral changes to the status quo, by either side, would not be welcomed by the U.S. government. 
 
It is has been a long-standing position of the U.S., he pointed out, that any resolution regarding the stability of the Taiwan Strait should be managed peacefully and “that the government of the People's Republic of China should have direct dialogue with the democratically elected leaders of Taiwan.” 
 
Commenting on Taiwan's upcoming presidential election, Young said the U.S. does not favor one candidate over another and will work with any leader that was elected by the people. He however admitted that the U.S. is following the election carefully and that, as the U.S. de facto ambassador, he plans to hold talks with all the nominated candidates to discuss the U.S.' core interests in Taiwan. 
 
Young also touted the vibrant trade relations between Taiwan and the U.S., noting that the volume of trade between the two countries hit US$60 billion last year. 
 
When asked to explain the U.S.' hesitance to sign a free trade agreement with Taiwan, Young said his government is aware of Taiwan's desire to sign an FTA, but since the fast-track authority in the Congress is expected to expire in two months, the option will be closed to all countries, including Taiwan. 
 
Meanwhile, the existing Trade and Investment Framework Agreement between the two sides could serves as a building block for an FTA at a later date, he said.