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US `willing to consider' missile plan

The Bush administration would be willing to consider the feasibility of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) recent suggestion that the US, Taiwan and Japan jointly develop a missile defense system, a senior State Department official said.

"I think President Bush has made it clear in some of his earlier remarks that the defense of Taiwan is something we regard as very important and [such a joint missile defense] could be an element of it," said John R. Bolton, the under secretary of state for arms control and international security affairs.

Bolton was speaking with reporters at a briefing at the State Department's Foreign Press Center. His comments came in response to the question of whether the administration would be willing to look into the "feasibility or possibility" of such a system.

"And, it's something that as our research and development continues for navy theater-wide and other missile systems, that obviously, I'm sure, we'll be in consultation with the authorities in Taiwan about," he said.

Chen made the suggestion in an interview last week with the Washington Times, in which he compared the military threat China poses to Taiwan to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, in which President Kennedy successfully prevented the Soviet Union from deploying nuclear missiles on that island nation 145km from the Florida coast.

In the interview, Chen said that increased missile deployment by China across the Taiwan Strait was the reason Washington and Tokyo were conducting research on development of missile defense systems.

"I believe peace in the Taiwan Strait is the key to overall stability in the Asia Pacific Region," he said. "So, maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait and avoiding a PRC threat against Taiwan is something that the US, Japan and Taiwan must jointly deal with in a manner of division of responsibilities and cooperation."

Chen also called for closer cooperation and exchanges between the military forces of Taiwan and the US, including greater training of Taiwan military personnel by America. Bolton noted that the question of missile defenses came up in April, when the US and Taiwan representatives conducted their annual arms sales session in Washington.

At that time, the Bush administration decided on a robust sales package to Taiwan valued at some US$4 billion. Included were four Kidd-class destroyers, up to eight diesel submarines, 12 P-3C Orion submarine-hunting aircraft, minesweeping helicopters, surface-to-air missiles, torpedoes and amphibious assault vehicles.

But the package notably excluded the four AEGIS destroyers with advanced radar-based anti-missile systems that many military analysts feel could form the basis of an eventual theater missile defense system.

Regarding future arms sales Bolton said, "I think a lot depends, obviously, on what Beijing does. Noting again Powell's trip to Beijing on Saturday, he said, "I think it's important to see what comes out of that."

"The president and others have made it clear that they value the relationship with Taiwan," he said, recalling that right after the arms sales announcement Bush indicated that he preferred to move away from the annual spring sales ritual to an ongoing, year-round dialogue. Such a dialogue, Bolton said, "is over the long term going to be much more productive."
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