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19 April 2000

Text: Senator Helms Statement on Weapons Sales to Taiwan

(Claims U.S. defense package for Taiwan "wholly inadequate") (480)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms condemned the
U.S. Department of Defense's decision not to sell Taiwan most of the
weaponry it requested for 2000 and depicted the Clinton Administration
as attempting to pour old wine into new bottles.
According to a press release issued by Helms April 18, the
weapons-sales package now being offered to Taiwan is "wholly
inadequate" because:
-- The "new" agreement to sell long-range early warning radars to
Taiwan is actually a repetition of an agreement reached last year;
-- The advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles (AMRAAM) training
package just announced was also announced in April 1999;
-- The proposal to sell the AMRAAM missiles to Taiwan includes the
restriction that Taiwan not be allowed to take possession of the
missiles at will;
-- The offer to review Taiwan's maritime needs is an empty promise
because a similar U.S. assessment of the island's air defense needs
made in 1999 recommended providing Aegis systems to Taiwan -- but the
Clinton Administration has refused to provide them.
Following is the text of the press release:
(begin text)
HELMS RIDICULES CLAIMS OF "ROBUST" U.S. DEFENSE PACKAGE FOR TAIWAN
Says Administration Refused 5 of 6 Items Taipei Requested
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse
Helms issued the following statement today:
"Yesterday's decisions on defense sales to Taiwan were wholly
inadequate. The administration would have us believe that they
approved a robust package for Taiwan, but in fact, only one of
Taiwan's six major requests, the Maverick missile, was approved. And
given the Orwellian spin the administration is putting on the
long-range early warning radars, in which repeating last year's deal
is being touted as a new agreement, why should the American people be
confident that the Maverick sale will ever take place?
"Similar deja vu surrounds the AMRAAM announcement. The training
package announced yesterday was also announced in April 1999.
Moreover, the notion of selling the missiles to Taiwan, but not
letting them take possession of them, is an insult. What is Taiwan to
do, call FedEx for its AMRAAMs after China attacks?
"The American people's gullibility is likewise assumed with the
so-called maritime assessment. The air defense assessment of 1999
argued for providing Aegis systems to Taiwan but the Clinton
Administration has refused to provide them. Why should the American
people believe the maritime assessment's recommendations won't also be
sent to the circular file as well?
"As with its failure to consult Congress on this matter, the Clinton
administration has once again flagrantly violated the Taiwan Relations
Act by giving Beijing a veto over Taiwan's defense requests."
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)