No cooling down in U.S.-Taiwan ties: KMT lawmaker
ROC Central News Agency
Taipei, Sept. 12 (CNA) An ongoing visit to Taiwan by a delegation of military officers from the Luke Air Force Base in the United States indicates that bilateral relations are not cooling down, a ruling Kuomintang (KMT) lawamker said Friday.
Lin Yu-fang, a convener of the Foreign and National Defense Committee of the Legislative Yuan, who invited the air base commanders to Taiwan, said some delegation members are colonels occupying posts usually held by brigadier generals.
According to U.S. regulations, Lin said, senior officers must obtain the prior consent of both the Department of State and the Pentagon before they travel to Taiwan.
"The fact that the Luke Air Force Base officers are visiting Taiwan is convincing evidence that Taiwan-U.S. relations have not cooled down, " said Lin, rebutting speculation that thaws in cross-Taiwan Strait ties may have hurt Taiwan's friendship with the United States.
Speaking after the U.S. military delegation paid a visit to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, the lawmaker also reminded the government that as it seeks a rapprochement with China, it should take special care not to mislead other democratic countries like the United States and Japan into questioning Taiwan's commitment to upholding democracy and defending its own security.
Lin was referring to Presdient Ma Ying-jeou's recent characterization of relations across the Taiwan Strait as a type of "special relations" different from links "between two states."
"Given the complexity and intricacy of cross-strait relations, such kind of discourse should be avoided," Lin said.
At a time when prospects for cross-strait ties remain cloudy and ambiguous, keeping quiet on sensitive and controversial issues might be the best policy, Lin believed.
Pointing out that a strong defense and diplomacy are the foundations for cross-strait negotiations, Lin said it would be good for the entire world if Taiwan's diplomatic "truce" meant that both China and Taiwan compromised on the diplomatic front, kept their existing diplomatic allies, suspended "money diplomacy, " and maintained the status quo.
In his view, Paraguay would be a litmus test of the feasibility of a cross-strait diplomatic truce. If China were to establish diplomatic relations with Taiwan's only South American ally, it would represent a setback in Taiwan's pursuit of a ceasefire with China in the diplomatic arena.
"Should that be the case, Taiwan should fire back and launch an all-out diplomatic offensive, " Lin said. But if China refrains from forging formal ties with Paraguay, he said, Taiwan should continue its "modus vivendi" diplomatic policy.
On the issue of defense, Lin said, Taiwan should certainly continue beefing up its defense arsenal and enhance combat readiness.
Taiwan has US$11 billion of weapons requisitions awaiting U.S. approval. Lin, who headed a legislative delegation to the U.S. to deal with the issue, said the odds are low that the U.S. will sell F-16 C/D jet fighters and diesel-powered submarines to Taiwan.
He predicted, however, that the U.S. administration was likely to respond positively later this month or in early October to Taiwan's request to purchase Apache helicopters, anti-tank missiles, P3C anti-submarine aircraft, Patriot PAC III anti-missile batteries and sea-launched Harpoon missiles.
(By Sofia Wu)
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