Published: Oct. 28, 1999
Source: Taipei Times


Taiwan welcomed yesterday the passing of a proposed bill by a key U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee to bolster U.S.-ROC military ties.

After two hours of debate, the House International Relations Committee passed an amended version of the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act, put forth by the committee's Republican chairman, Representative Benjamin Gilman. The vote was passed with a wide margin of 32 votes to six.

"We thank those in public office for their support and concern for Taiwan," Minister of National Defense Tang Fei said yesterday in response.

Tang, when asked if he had any criticisms, said only that it was an internal matter for the U.S. and that he would rather not get involved.

During Tuesday's "mark-up" -- where the act is amended before moving onto the House's full committee -- a section of the original bill was removed that specified the sale of advanced weapons systems to Taiwan.

The original bill had included a section authorizing the president to provide -- in effect telling the Pentagon to sell -- Taiwan equipment including among other systems, AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles diesel submarines and naval anti-missile systems including Aegis destroyers.

Tang said the removal was nothing to be overly concerned about.

"This does not affect our ability to obtain weapons systems through regular channels," he said.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Henry Chen added his approval, interpreting it as "a clear signal of continued U.S. backing for the democracy and people of the Republic of China, which would keep us from fear of military invasion."

In addition to seeking to develop further military relations between Taiwan and the U.S., the bill also proposes greater clarity for the support of Taiwan and its people.

"It is in the national interest of the United States to eliminate ambiguity and convey with clarity continued United States support for Taiwan, its people, and their ability to maintain their democracy free from coercion," the bill states.

However, the Clinton administration would rather that the ambiguity remains, said one foreign ministry official who wished to remain anonymous.

The foreign ministry has received pressure from the U.S. executive branch, encouraging Taiwan to ease its lobbying efforts in Washington, he said.

"In the past it was the U.S. who supported Taiwan's democracy and now the one who wants Taiwan to shut up is the United States," the official said. Just before passage of the bill by the subcommittee, DPP lawmaker Parris Chang was in Washington with others rallying support for the bill.

Chang said he was pleased that the bill had passed this stage because it could give a boost to Taiwan's self-defense interests.

In addition to calling for clear support of Taiwan's democratic accomplishments the bill also seeks to improve U.S.-ROC military relations.

The measures include: the increase of technical staff at the American Institute in Taiwan, annual reports by the President classified and unclassified -- following arms talks between both sides and clear explanations of which weapons systems were requested, evaluation of Taiwan's self-defense capability and report of Taiwan's abilities, combined training and personnel exchange programs for "senior officers," as well as secure direct communications between U.S. and ROC armed forces.

The version of the act passed by the committee also contained an added section which called on the Secretary of Defense to prepare a report to Congress within six months, updated when necessary, regarding the ability of the U.S. to respond to "a major contingency in the Asia-Pacific region where U.S. interests on Taiwan are at risk." The report would have to detail what U.S. strategic objectives were involved and how the U.S. expected to be able to achieve them.

Some critics within the U.S. government have cast doubt on whether the bill would pass, but Chang was optimistic that it could move forward and not be stopped in Congress or vetoed by the president.

"For defense purposes there are no reasons to object to the bill," Chang said.

By removing more controversial portions of the bill, the subcommittee has made the bill compelling for the Clinton administration prior to next year's U.S. presidential elections, Chang added.

"If Clinton vetoes the bill with elections approaching he will have a considerable political price to pay," he said.