LEGISLATOR TO SUE U.S. PRESIDENT OVER ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN
ROC Central News Agency
2006-01-26 21:03:46
Taipei, Jan. 26 (CNA) Independent Legislator Li Ao said Thursday that he and his daughter in Beijing, Li Wen, might file separate lawsuits with the U.S. federal court by the end of January against U.S. President George W. Bush for asking Taiwan to pay for the arms supplied by the United States under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
Li, a noted writer, historian and political gadfly, cited Section 2(b)(5) of the TRA as saying: "It is the policy of the United States to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character."
He claimed that the word "provide" means that the weapons supplied by the United States to Taiwan should be free, "just like a father giving money to his son."
He further claimed to have obtained a copy of the 2006-2007 foreign aid authorization report of the U.S. House of Representatives and found that the document explicitly defines "provide" with the words "without charge" in parentheses.
The U.S. federal court will have to clarify whether the U.S. government should ask Taiwan to pay for the weapons it receives from the United States, he continued.
Li pointed out that as the third-largest buyer of weapons from the United States, Taiwan spent a total of US$9.5 billion on U.S.-supplied weapons from 1995-2004, and claimed Taiwan should not have paid anything for them at all.
The independent legislator estimated that the lawsuits might cost him and his daughter between US$800,000 and US$1 million, plus additional costs for placing advertisements in prestigious U.S. newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. He added, however, that the expenses would be worthwhile.
(By Han Nai-kuo)
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