Taipei, Dec. 29 (CNA) ROC Representative to the United States Stephen Chen said on Wednesday that the Clinton administration has promised not to exclude the Republic of China from the US-proposed theater missile defense (TMD) system.
Chen, who returned to Taipei earlier this week for home consultations, made the statement in a report to the Legislative Yuan's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee.
The ROC's de facto ambassador to the United States said senior officials from both sides have exchanged views on TMD-related issues.
"In addition to expressing our interest in participating in the TMD project, we have also told American officials that our Ministry of National Defense is carefully evaluating whether to take part in the project," Chen said.
As the project is still in the planning stage, Chen said the ROC has asked the Clinton administration not to hastily deny Taiwan's access to the TMD.
Noting that the US executive branch has adopted an open-minded attitude toward the project at the moment, Chen said it has promised not to rule out the possibility of Taiwan's participation at this stage.
Nevertheless, Chen said the United States absolutely does not want to see the outbreak of a military confrontation in the Taiwan Strait.
"The United States hopes to maintain prosperity and development in the Taiwan Strait and entire Asia-Pacific regions, and this is why it has repeatedly stressed its stance on peaceful solution to cross-strait issues," Chen explained.
The career diplomat pointed out that the US State Department, Pentagon and even President Bill Clinton have on many occasions expressed grave concern about mainland China's mounting missile threat to Taiwan and its construction of new missile bases along its southeastern coast in recent years.
According to Chen, the US administration's strong reaction to Beijing's intensified military buildup fully reflects the great importance it has attached to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Noting that the Clinton administration announced its decision in late July to sell US$550 million worth of spare parts for F-16 jet fighters and E2T early warning aircraft to Taiwan, Chen said the US government has not changed its security commitment to the ROC after President Lee Teng-hui defined cross-strait relations as a "special state-to-state relationship" on July 9.
However, Chen admitted that it is difficult to upgrade substantive ties between Taipei and Washington before the inauguration of a new US president in January 2001.
With a view to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Chen said the United States now adopts a strategy of "de-politicizing security issues."
Under this strategy, Chen said the United States is not expected to adopt steps detrimental to cross-strait stability when it comes to arms sales issues.
Nevertheless, Chen went on: "From the US viewpoint, the ROC government's failure to consult with the United States before unveiling its 'special state-to-state relationship' theory has affected mutual trust."
Chen further predicted that the US executive branch may impose some hurdles to its working relationship with the ROC's representative office in Washington, D.C. because of the "special state-to-state" theory. (By Sofia Wu)
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