U.S. URGED TO ADDRESS MILITARY IMBALANCE ACROSS TAIWAN STRAIT
Central News Agency
2005-07-22 22:49:50
Washington, July 22 (CNA) The United States should address the military imbalance between Taiwan and China unilaterally if Taiwan fails to strengthen its own defenses, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Randall Schriver said Thursday.
Speaking at a hearing before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission of the Congress, Schriver, who visited Taipei July 10-13, said the United States has obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act to maintain Taiwan's defense ability and has to do its own planning based on seriously degraded Taiwan capabilities. "If Taiwan does not make the right decisions within the legislature, we need to think about how we can do a better job of sustaining the military deterrence unilaterally," Schriver said.
He was referring to the opposition-controlled legislature's refusal to act on the government's request for a special budget to purchase arms from the United States.
Schriver did not suggest what the United States should do unilaterally, saying only that it would be far preferable for Taiwan to do the right thing and contribute to improving its own defenses. "If not this special budget, then it should be something else, " he said.
However, Schriver warned, U.S. calculations in making the political decision associated with intervening in the event of cross-strait conflict could change if Taiwan is seen as not having made adequate contributions to its own defenses.
(By Oliver Lin & Maubo Chang)
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