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U.S. DENIES SUSPENSION OF MILITARY EXCHANGES WITH TAIWAN

ROC Central News Agency

2006-11-01 12:18:17

    Washington, Oct. 31 (CNA) The U.S. State Department denied Tuesday allegations that Washington has suspended some military exchange programs with Taiwan as a result of the Taiwan legislature's delay in passing an arms procurement bill.

    A Taiwan journalist asked State Department spokesman Sean McCormack at a regular news briefing Tuesday whether it's true that the United States has suspended military exchanges with Taiwan in response to the delay in passing a defense budget.

    McCormack did not answer the journalist's question right away, saying that he needed to check it out before making a response.

    Soon after the briefing, the State Department responded to the Taiwan journalist's question by saying on its official Web site: "No. There is no change in U.S. policy regarding Taiwan's security."

    Meanwhile, officials from the White House National Security Council (NSC) also expressed concerns to Taiwan's representative in the United States, David Dawei Lee, over remarks made by ROC Defense Minister Lee Jye Oct. 30 that Washington has suspended military exchange programs with Taiwan as a retaliatory move against the Taiwan legislature's failure to pass the long-stalled arms procurement bill.

    NSC officials said Lee's remarks are untrue, adding that there is no change in U.S. policy regarding Taiwan's security and that United States has not suspended military exchanges with Taiwan.

    Lee said at a Legislative Yuan Defense Committee Oct. 30 that "the Pentagon has not only shelved Taiwan's new order for a batch of F-16 jet fighters, it has also notified military agencies, including the Bureau of Armament and Acquisition, in written notices recently that all personnel exchanges and meetings between the two sides are suspended."

    According to Lee, "the U.S. defense authorities said in the notices that the suspension will be reviewed only after they learn of developments concerning the Taiwan legislature's passage of the long-stalled defense budget and various arms procurement packages."

(By Jorge Liu and Deborah Kuo)

ENDITEM/Li