Legislative speaker confident U.S. will proceed with arms sales
ROC Central News Agency
Washington, July 28 (CNA) Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng said in the U.S. capital Sunday that he is fully confident that the Bush administration will proceed with arms sales to Taiwan after the Beijing Olympics.
Wang said he believes the State Department will proceed shortly with the arms sales package that Washington approved in 2001, because under the Taiwan Relations Act the United States pledged to continue to provide Taiwan with defensive weapons so as to maintain Taiwan's stability and safeguard peace and security in the Asian-Pacific region.
"The passage of the procurement package is actually a 'matter of course' since it has been approved by the U.S. president, its budget had been passed by Taiwan's legislature, and the relevant preparations are almost all in place," Wang said at a news conference on his arrival in Washington, D.C. from New York.
Secondly, Wang said, the U.S. government should trust the assessment made by defense professionals and give the green light to the arms deal soon because it is in line with the mutual interests of Taiwan and U.S. and it is one of the key factors in terms of balancing military strength across the Taiwan Strait.
Third, he added, the package -- which includes anti-tank missiles, Apache helicopters, Patriot PAC-3 anti-missile batteries, diesel-powered submarines, P3C anti-submarine aircraft and sea-launched Harpoon missiles -- will help Taiwan gain greater leverage in tri-lateral relations with China and the U.S. and contribute significantly to efforts to maintain stability in the Asian-Pacific region.
Wang said he had visited Washington before for talks on the arms sales plan, but all he heard was persuasion from the U.S. for the Taiwan legislature to pass the arms package bill as soon as possible.
This time around, he is in Washington to push the U.S. government to complete the administrative process, the sooner the better, so that the case could be referred to Congress for approval.
He noted that President Ma Ying-jeou had reiterated recently that Taiwan's policy of acquiring U.S. weapons systems remains unchanged and had stressed that "Taiwan's purchase of U.S. military weapons should proceed as projected and as quickly as possible."
Wang pointed out, however, that Washington has reportedly considered freezing congressional notification of potential new arms sales to Taiwan for the duration of the George W. Bush administration, in part because of frustration over political bickering in Taiwan over the arms package that Washington approved in 2001.
Wang reiterated that carrying through on the arms deal would be tremendously meaningful in terms not only of strengthening Taiwan's national security, but also of efforts to boost Taiwan's confidence when it engages in cross-strait negotiations on political and technical affairs with China in months to come.
The implementation of the arms deal will also be meaningful in terms of demonstrating mutual political trust between Taiwan and the United States, Wang said, adding that more stable U.S.-Taiwan relations are in the national interests of the two countries.
Wang, accompanied by his wife and several aides, arrived in New York July 24 for a two-city visit. He termed his current U.S. visit as an effort to ameliorate mutual trust and mutual reliance between Taiwan and the United States.
He will deliver a speech at the Heritage Foundation, pay visits to the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Defense and the National Security Council, and meet with experts from several D.C.-based think tanks before leaving for Taiwan Aug. 1.
Meanwhile, five Taiwanese legislators, led by ruling Kuomintang Legislator Lin Yu-fang, departed for Washington Sunday for a visit, aimed mainly at pushing the U.S. to carry through on the previously agreed on arms deals. (By Chiehyu Lin and Deborah Kuo) ENDITEM /pc
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