US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley has confirmed that despite major objections from China, US President Barack Obama is not considering ending arms sales to Taiwan.
The comment was made on Tuesday afternoon at the regular State Department briefing when Crowley was questioned about the resumption of US-China military-to-military talks.
Beijing stopped such contacts in January as a protest after Obama announced the sale of more than US$6 billion in arms to Taipei.
Contacts have been restarted this week following talks between US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and his Chinese counterpart, Minister of National Defense Liang Guanglie (梁光烈), in Hanoi.
However, China has made it clear to Washington that it remains strongly opposed to the sale of weapons and especially to the sale of 66 advanced F-16C/D fighters being requested by Taipei.
Asked whether Washington took Beijing’s anger over arms sales to Taiwan more seriously than in the past and whether consideration was being given to ending the arms sales, Crowley said: “Consideration of these issues and our provision of defense articles to Taiwan is consistent with our law, the Taiwan Relations Act, and we will continue to follow our law.”
Pressed by another reporter on whether consideration was being given to halting arms sales, Crowley again replied: “No,” this time more emphatically.
Crowley appeared to be prepared for the question with his firm reaffirmation of policy approved by the highest levels.
Crowley’s remarks came as Daniel Blumenthal, a specialist on Asia, posted an article on Foreign Policy’s Web site saying that under President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Taiwan’s relations with the US had become “almost non-existent.”
Blumenthal, a member of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, wrote that Washington was taking its commitment to helping Taiwan defend itself “rather lightly.”
Over the past decade, he wrote, Washington’s Taiwan policy created unnecessary dilemmas for Taiwan’s political leadership.
“If a president of Taiwan reconciles with China, Washington’s impulse is to neglect relations, confident that the cross-Strait problem is resolving itself,” Blumenthal wrote. “It’s small wonder why many Taiwanese believe that Washington is unreliable.”
Taiwan badly needs more F-16 fighter aircraft to recapitalize its aging air fleet, Blumenthal wrote.
“None seem forthcoming. This is all the more troublesome given China’s stepped up aggression against its neighbors such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan and India,” he wrote.
“It’s just a matter of time before Beijing loses patience with Taipei’s refusal to discuss its political future. Taipei will need to show it cannot be pushed around,” he wrote.
Blumenthal concluded that it was incumbent upon the US to reward Taiwan’s China diplomacy with bilateral initiatives that increased Taipei’s international status and helped it deter China’s military coercion.
“Washington can start by highlighting to American businesses the opportunities Taiwan has created through its economic cooperation framework agreement with China,” Blumenthal wrote.
“While it negotiates a free-trade agreement with Taiwan, Washington should also send the US secretary of commerce to the island with a delegation of leading businessmen to scout out new investment opportunities,” he wrote. “Not only can the United States benefit from Taiwan’s closer links with the mainland, but more American investment on the island will also increase Taiwan’s international prestige.”
At the same time, Washington should sell F-16s and submarines to Taiwan as a “strong signal” to Beijing that its arms build-up would not go unanswered, he wrote.
“The purpose of US policy should be to discourage unneeded cross Strait tension, while binding the democratic island ever closer to Washington,” he wrote.
In Taipei yesterday, Ma said he remained confident that Taiwan would soon reach agreements with the US on a number of bilateral issues under negotiation, including the sale of F-16C/Ds.
Other major items on the agenda are the inclusion of Taiwan in the US visa waiver program and the signing of an extradition treaty.
“Although some of the problems cannot be resolved in a short period of time, I believe they will be overcome with mutual trust,” Ma told US Representative Bob Inglis, a senior Republican on the House’s Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment.
Ma said he had worked to restore mutual trust with the US and improve relations with China since his inauguration in May 2008 and this had paid off, for example with the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks set to resume at the end of the year.
With cross-strait ties improving, Washington no longer needs to choose between Taipei and Beijing and can develop friendly relations with both, Ma said.
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