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TAIWAN RELATIONS ACT DOES NOT COMMIT U.S. TO DEFEND TAIWAN: ARMITAGE

ROC Central News Agency

2006-03-10 21:27:25

    Taipei, March 10 (CNA) Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Friday that the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) does not commit the United States to defend Taiwan.

    Armitage pointed out that the TRA has several aspects to it, but "the Taiwan Relations Act doesn't commit us to defend Taiwan."

    Armitage made the statement Friday during an interview with the Central News Agency.

    When asked whether when the acts states that "the enactment of the act was necessary ... to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security ... of the people on Taiwan," the word "resist" meant that the United States would be required to defend Taiwan, Armitage said, "it doesn't necessarily mean militarily." "The responsibility of the United States would be predicated on several things: such as what caused -- if there were violence -- the violence, and things of that nature," he said.

    But he would not elaborate when asked whether his statement meant that the United States might not come to Taiwan's rescue should violence occur and when Taiwan is considered to have provoked China. "You're talking about [the] hypothetical, and it's not a good idea to answer hypothetical. I am not the President of the United States. I can't say what any President would do," he said.

    He said the point he's made more recently is that "Taiwan has to be seen as being serious about their own defense and having a serious commitment to their own defense."

    Armitage left Taiwan Friday morning after a whirlwind three-day trip in Taiwan. During the period, he met with top government and opposition leaders, including President Chen Shui-bian, Premier Su Tseng-chang, Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Yu Shyi-kun, Kuomintang Chairman Ma Ying-jeou, and former President Lee Teng-hui.

(By Debby Wu)

ENDITEM/diG