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U.S. LOOKS FORWARD TO EARLY SETTLEMENT OF TAIWAN ARMS DEAL: ENVOY

Central News Agency

2005-05-27 19:27:38

    Washington, May 27 (CNA) The Bush administration looks forward to concluding a critical arms deal with Taiwan as soon as possible lest Taiwan's defense capabilities be affected, the Republic of China's representative to the United States said Thursday.

    David Ta-wei Lee, the de facto Taiwan ambassador to the United States, made the remarks during a regular news conference in Washington, D.C.

    More than four years have passed since President George W. Bush agreed to sell a robust package of advanced weapons to Taiwan. However, Taiwan's opposition-controlled legislature has so far stonewalled the passage of a special budget bill for the package, which includes eight diesel-electric submarines, six Patriot PAC III anti-missile batteries and a squadron of 12 P-3C anti-submarine aircraft.

    Lee said the Bush administration hopes Taiwan will conclude the deal as soon as possible because it considers all three items in the package vital to Taiwan's self-defense and national security.

    In the U.S. view, Lee said, delaying the acquisition of the three priority items could make Taiwan increasingly vulnerable to the ever-mounting military threat from China. "U.S. officials believe that an early decision on the package is in Taiwan's interest. Otherwise, they think Taiwan's military build-up and self-defense could be at stake, " Lee said, adding that manufacturing of the weapons will take time.

    Nevertheless, Lee went on, the U.S. government has not mentioned setting a deadline for striking the deal.

    Meanwhile, Lee said he welcomes the passage by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2006, which contains a section requesting that the Defense Department relax restrictions on senior-level military personnel visits to Taiwan.

    Section 1203 of the act stipulates that "the secretary of defense shall undertake a program of senior military officer and senior official exchanges with Taiwan designed to improve Taiwan's defenses against the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China."

    Lee said that if senior U.S. military officers can visit Taiwan, they will be able to acquire first-hand information about Taiwan's actual defense needs and the level of its combat readiness. Such information would eventually benefit Taiwan's overall national defense, he added.

    The act is now pending a Senate approval but it remains unclear whether the Senate will support the House-initiated proposal.

(By Oliver Lin and Sofia Wu)

ENDITEM/J