Taiwan still wants the US to approve further weapons sales despite a marked thaw in tensions between Taipei and Beijing, Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said on Friday in Washington.
Chiang said on a visit to Washington that national security remained paramount for Taiwan and “for its democracy.”
“In order to have a credible deterrence to prevent any future miscalculation, it is reasonable and necessary for Taiwan to continue to have those armaments that we cannot manufacture ourselves,” he told reporters.
Chiang said that Taiwan still had a standing request for weapons, including F-16 fighter jets. The US in January approved a US$6.4 billion package, including helicopters, anti-missile defenses and mine-sweepers.
China protested the sale.
Despite the signing of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) on June 29 that marks closer trade and cooperation between the two sides, Chiang said it was too early for Beijing and Taipei to engage in formal talks on a long-term political settlement.
“We don’t think ... that our mutual understanding and mutual trust is mature enough to talk about those sovereignty issues,” Chiang said.
Critics of the ECFA fear that the agreement will jeopardize Taiwan’s de facto independence and may eventually turn it into a Chinese territory along the lines of Hong Kong and Macau.
Meanwhile, in an interview with the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, Chiang said that any future free-trade agreements Taiwan wants to sign with its trading partners should be solely up to the two parties concerned.
“It is hard to deny that Beijing won’t have any political influence,” he said when asked if China could interfere in such deals, but “no matter what, a free-trade deal is still a matter that should be decided between Taiwan and its trading partner. They have the final say.”
On concerns that the tariff-reducing measures in the deal could have a negative impact on some industries, Chiang said that vulnerable industries, such as agricultural products, were excluded from the measures. He added that the agreement does not permit laborers from China to work in Taiwan.
Chiang arrived in Washington on Thursday after visiting New York last week to speak with US think tanks and media outlets about the ECFA. During his visit to Washington, Chiang will meet representatives of the Brookings Institution and media outlets.
US President Donald Trump said "it’s up to" Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be "very unhappy" with a change in the "status quo," the New York Times said in an interview published yesterday. Xi "considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing," Trump told the newspaper on Wednesday. "But I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that," he added. "I hope he doesn’t do that." Trump made the comments in
NOT AN OPENING: Trump’s violation of international law does not affect China’s consideration in attacking Taiwan; Beijing lacks capability, not precedent, an official said Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons. The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said. That reassured Taiwan, the person said. Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not
A cold surge advisory was today issued for 18 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures of below 10°C forecast during the day and into tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. New Taipei City, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties are expected to experience sustained temperatures of 10°C or lower, the CWA said. Temperatures are likely to temporarily drop below 10°C in most other areas, except Taitung, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, CWA data showed. The cold weather is being caused by a strong continental cold air mass, combined with radiative cooling, a process in which heat escapes from
Snow this morning fell on Alishan for the first time in seven years, as a strong continental cold air mass sent temperatures plunging across Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The Alishan weather station, located at an elevation of about 2,200m in central Taiwan, recorded snowfall from 8:55am to 9:15am, when the temperature dropped to about 1°C, the CWA said. With increased moisture and low temperatures in the high-altitude Alishan area, the conditions were favorable for snow, CWA forecaster Tsai Yi-chi (蔡伊其) said. The last time snow fell at the Alishan weather station was on Jan. 10, 2018, while graupel fell there
RSS