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U.S. REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO TAIWAN

ROC Central News Agency

2007-04-25 12:48:26

    Washington, April 24 (CNA) A high-ranking U.S. military official reaffirmed Tuesday the United States' commitment to provide Taiwan with the necessary assistance to defend itself against possible Chinese invasion.

    The United States is examining Taiwan's defense needs by sending observers to survey the island's annual "Han Kuang" military exercise, according to Timothy Keating, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command (USPACOM). "USPACOM will continue to make available to Taiwan advice, training and support for congressionally-approved equipment to defend against the potential military aggression by the PRC, " Keating said during a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing.

    He said the United States is monitoring cross-Taiwan Strait relations closely and that the country's military interactions with Taiwan and China focus on efforts to preserve cross-strait stability. "We continue to encourage Taiwan to improve its own defenses and create a credible deterrent to any attack. We have advocated inexpensive hardening practices as well as the acquisition of a combination of defensive weapons and systems," he said.

    However, Keating emphasized the United States' position remains that Taiwan's actions should be defensive, rather than offensive, in nature, and he expressed confidence that Taiwan understands this point clearly. "But it is very much in their interest not to conduct themselves, either by speech or by action, in a way that could be misconstrued by China in unfortunate ways," he said.

    Keating said that while China's military modernization efforts do not yet challenge U.S. military capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region, the opaqueness of Chinese defense budgets and intentions, as well as the introduction of new capabilities, are causes for concern.

    The military-to-military interaction between the United States and China is aimed at increasing transparency between their respective militaries, breaking down barriers to understanding and reducing the potential for miscalculation, he said.

(By Chiehyu Lin and Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/Li