from CHINA NEWS, 25 February 2000
Taiwan officials in charge of national security and defense affairs yesterday refused to comment on news reports that a U.S. aircraft carrier was sailing towards Taiwan, but they agreed that the move may help ensure the stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Defense Department said yesterday that the sailing of the USS Kitty Hawk from its home port of Yokosuka in Japan is related to a planned military maneuver and has nothing to do with Taiwan's presidential election or Beijing's white paper on the Taiwan issue.
Ting Yu-chou, director of Taiwan's National Security Bureau, said he had no comment on the reported carrier movements.
Ting was quoted as saying he "felt safe" after he was repeatedly asked by reporters to comment on the U.S. move. Ting made the remarks after giving New Party presidential candidate Liao Ao and vice presidential candidate Elmer Fung a briefing on Taiwan's national security.
The briefing was one of a series the bureau is offering to the various presidential candidates to help them better understand Taiwan's situation.
Shortly after U.S. officials gave strong reactions to China's white paper, the Kitty Hawk left Japan on what was described as a routine training mission" on waters off the Philippines, according to press reports.
A press official with the U.S. Defense Department told the Central News Agency that the carrier will stage routine military exercises in the waters off the Philippines and return to Yokosuka before Taiwan's March 18 presidential election.
The official said the aircraft carrier would not pass through the Taiwan Strait on its way to the waters near the Philippines. He also denied a report that the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz will reach the waters near the Taiwan Strait by the end of this month, saying that the aircraft carrier is now undergoing a 33-month period of servicing at the port of Newport News in Virginia.
In 1996, the U.S. also sent two aircraft carrier combat groups to waters near Taiwan in the wake of China's announcement of the test-firing of its mid-range missiles near Taiwan before the people of Taiwan were to hold a popular election to elect their new president.
Sources in Taiwan's Navy said Kitty Hawk's presence would surely stabilize the situation in the Taiwan Strait after tensions in the Taiwan Strait mounted as the result of China's issuance of its new white paper on Taiwan.
In related news, an official in the Ministry of Finance refused to say when the government would use its national stability funds to prevent the stock market from dropping further as the result of cross-strait tensions.
Copyright 2000 China News
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
