Taiwan confident in U.S. Congress's support for TRA
ROC Central News Agency
2011/05/20 11:21:48
Washington, May 19 (CNA) A high-ranking Taiwanese official posted in Washington expressed confidence Thursday in the U.S. Congress's firm support for the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) despite China's efforts to lobby for changes to the law that governs U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
According to Chang Ta-tung, Taiwan's deputy representative to the United States, it is "unquestionable" that most members of Congress are in favor of the TRA.
This is reflected in the size of the Taiwan Caucus, a pro-Taiwan congressional group, which currently has 29 members in the 100-seat Senate and 145 members in the 435-seat House of Representatives, Chang said.
"There is very strong support for the TRA in the U.S. Congress, " he said.
During his current visit in the United States, Chen Bingde, chief of the general staff of the People's Liberation Army, said many of the U.S. congressmen he had made contact with told him that "it's time to review" the TRA.
Chen warned that U.S. arms sales to Taiwan will certainly affect relations between China and the United States, and that the level of severity will depend on the nature of the sales.
Asked about the possibility of Washington yielding to Beijing's pressure and decreasing the quantity and quality of defensive weapons sold to Taiwan, Chang said the scenario was quite unlikely in light of U.S. obligations under the TRA and the Six Assurances to Taiwan.
He noted that as early as 1982 in a joint U.S.-China communique, Washington promised to "gradually reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan."
But if this were feasible, the administration of former U.S. President George Bush would not have sold 150 F-16 A/B fighters to Taiwan in 1992, he said. (By Jorge Liu and Y.F. Low) ENDITEM/ls
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