• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

U.S. CONGRESS ASKS FOR HIGH-LEVEL MILITARY EXCHANGES WITH TAIWAN

Central News Agency

2005-05-21 17:48:47

    Washington, May 20 (CNA) The Committee on Armed Services of the U.S. House of Representatives has requested the Pentagon to upgrade its military personnel exchanges with Taiwan.

    In the Fiscal Year 2006 National Defense Authorization Act passed by the committee on Thursday, the Pentagon is asked to undertake a program of senior military officer and senior official exchanges with Taiwan to improve the island's defenses against China.

    A "senior military officer" means a general or flag officer of the Armed forces on active duty, and a "senior official" means a civilian official of the Department of Defense at the level of deputy assistant secretary of defense or above, according to the act.

    Washington currently allows senior military officer and officials from Taiwan to visit the United States but not vice versa.

    However, exchange of visits between senior military officers and officials from the United States and China has been very common, with more than 80 such visits taking place in the 1990s and 14 in the past few years, committee members noted.

    The House of Representatives is expected to review the act next week. A similar section concerning the exchanges with Taiwan was also included in the National Defense Authorization Act passed by the House last year, but the section was removed from the final version reconciled by the House and the Senate.

(By Oliver Lin and Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/Li