The Bush administration has dismissed as moot talk that Washington might seek the dispatch of Taiwanese marines to Iraq, saying that Taiwan has not made such an offer nor has the US asked for it.
"I would point out that Taiwan has not offered the dispatch of troops and we're not seeking such a contribution," Department of State spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters on Monday.
"It's really a moot point," he said.
Boucher made the comments in response to questions at his regular daily news briefing.
In his response, he praised Taiwan's contribution to humanitarian aid to Iraq, saying, "We do value the contributions that Taiwan is making."
Boucher noted that Taiwan contributed US$4.4 million in humanitarian assistance to Iraq after major combat ended last year, including medicines, blankets and food, and computers to the new Iraqi education ministry.
"We thank Taiwan for their contributions," he said.
Boucher was answering questions stemming from a resolution introduced in the House of Representatives last week by two congressmen, asking President George W. Bush to request that President Chen Shui-bian (
The resolution, sponsored by two Republicans, Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a co-chairman of the Taiwan Congressional Caucus, and Representative Jim Ryun, is one of thousands of bills introduced in Congress every year, only few of which survive the legislative process.
An aide to Rohrabacher told the Taipei Times on Monday that the idea for the resolution came from a May 16 Los Angeles Times story that quoted DPP Legislator Parris Chang (
The resolution picked up on that idea, and that wording, in its justification for seeking other congressmen to support and vote for the resolution.
Congressional lobbying group the Formosan Association for Public Affairs said in a news release that the idea was first brought up in an April 27 article by William Triplett, a former Senate Foreign Relations Committee aide and prominent conservative political thinker, that explored the possibility of Taiwan's sending troops to Iraq.
"We sort of kicked the idea around and said, `the troops should be there.' They're a democracy and they're a part of the world community," and should be asked to participate, the Rohrabacher aide said.
"This might get Taiwan off the dime," he said. "They were considering it and this could help them along in the process."
A legislative aide to Ryun, Jim Richardson, said the idea "was to put Congress on record, to let the administration know and hopefully they'll support the idea that there is a need in Iraq for additional troops. The United States has asked every other society in the world to contribute and it must make sense to ask Taiwan to contribute troops as well."
The Presidential Office has denied that was considering sending troops to Iraq.
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Air and rail traffic around Taiwan were disrupted today while power cuts occurred across the country as Typhoon Kong-rey, predicted to make landfall in eastern Taiwan this afternoon, continued edging closer to the country. A total of 241 passenger and cargo flights departing from or arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport were canceled today due to the typhoon, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. As of 9:30am, 109 inbound flights, 103 outbound flights and 29 cargo flights had been canceled, the company said. Taiwan Railway Corp also canceled all express trains on its Western Trunk Line, Eastern Trunk Line, South-Link Line and attached branches
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