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U.S. WILL NOT SEEK OR WELCOME TAIWAN TROOPS IN IRAQ: U.S OFFICIAL

2004-06-03 16:15:12

    Washington, June 2 (CNA) The United States will not seek or welcome Taiwan sending troops to Iraq, U.S. Assistant Secretary of States for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James Kelly said Wednesday.

    Kelly made the remarks when he was testifying at a hearing on U.S. policy in East Asia and the Pacific at the U.S. House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific under the Committee on International Relations.

    Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Ca.) -- the co-chairman of a pro-Taiwan group, Taiwan Caucus, who proposed last week that the U.S. government ask Taiwan to send 5,000 marines to fight alongside the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq -- asked Kelly if the Bush administration would be amenable to Taiwan offering to send troops to help in Iraq.

    In response, Kelly said that Taiwan has "helped out in Iraq with humanitarian and tangible items for use in construction. I do not believe that we would seek or welcome the advent of Taiwan troops, because that would require a degree of cooperation that might help things in Iraq, but it would raise tensions significantly in East Asia."

    Rohrabacher said that the United States would certainly not want to provoke any confrontation while its troops are engaged in Iraq; however, he added: " Sending 5,000 troops from Taiwan, a democratically-elected government, to help establish a democracy in Iraq would be a good thing, and it is so sad that we are afraid to anger a dictatorial regime in Beijing, and that's why we are not willing to look at that alternative."

    Rohrabacher and Jim Ryan (R-Kan.) introduced a proposal to the House Committee on International Relations May 20 suggesting that Taiwan send troops to fight alongside U.S.-led coalition forces to signify their shared values of promoting democracy and opposing terrorism.

    The proposal has sparked heated debate and concerns among Taiwan society, although both U.S. and Taiwan government officials have denied that the two sides have ever discussed the issue.

(By Jorge Liu and Lilian Wu)

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