The US said on Monday that there was a “possibility” that a barracks for US Marine security forces at the planned new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) headquarters in Neihu, Taipei City, may be built, but there are no current plans to station Marines at the complex.
State Department spokesman Tom Casey said that a procurement announcement in English-language newspapers in Taiwan last week should not be construed as a change in US policy toward the stationing of US military personnel in Taiwan.
Aside from the assignment of a few US military attaches at the AIT Taipei headquarters in 2005, the presence of US military forces in Taiwan has been barred since the US switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
US Marines are deployed as guards at US embassies around the world.
In answer to a question at his daily press briefing, Casey said the ad had created a “bit of confusion.”
“There are discussions about having a new compound or new complex built to replace the existing AIT structure in Taipei. The notices that have gone out have included the broadest possible kinds of elements that might be included in there. But at this point I’m not aware that there are any plans to station US Marines at AIT in Taipei,” Casey said.
Asked whether a Marine barracks is being planned, Casey said: “That’s a possibility. But it’s not. Again this is a request for proposals on a range of options for a new building and for a new compound. And again there certainly would be a security element to that. There’s a security element in AIT there right now, though it isn’t US Marines that are providing it.”
He said that procurement ads are not “indicative of anything more” than that in seeking a contractor, the US wants to give bidders a “full range of options.”
“I don’t think anyone should see this as a signal that we’re changing our policy or that we intend to place Marines at this point at AIT Taipei,” he said.
Plans for the Neihu complex have been in the works for several years, but the government has not yet funded the entire project. In its budget request for the next fiscal year, which begins on Oct. 1, the US State Department called for sufficient funding to pay for the facility, which it estimated would cost more than US$170 million.
However, it put the new facility under the budget category of “strategic capital,” a subset of its Worldwide Security Upgrade budget line which emphasized “critical maintenance and infrastructure investment,” with a reference to Iraq and the security problems there.
The new AIT facility was the only one mentioned in the “strategic capital” section.
The AIT section of the budget commented that there “remains a need for critical facilities upgrades other than security [eg, strategic, policy or political considerations].”
“The FY [fiscal year] 2009 Strategic Capital request, when combined with funding previously provided from proceeds of sale and contributions by the American Institute in Taiwan, will provide [US]$171.6 million for the construction of a new office compound in Taipei, Taiwan,” the budget request said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
RSS