Chen urges US senators to sell arms

Yesterday, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) praised US President George W. Bush for obtaining a peaceful preliminary solution to the Sino-US spy-plane standoff. Chen then focused on the arms sales issue, urging the US government to sell advanced defense weapons to Taiwan in accordance with the "Taiwan Relations Act" and the so-called "six assurances" of 1982.

"We express gratitude to the US government for not linking arms sales to Taiwan with the spy-plane collision event," Chen said, "and we ask that the Bush administration work hand-in-hand with Congress in supporting arms sales to Taiwan."

Chen stressed that arms sales are not only a military matter but, more importantly, guarantee Taiwan's democratic tradition and helps reopen cross-strait negotiations.

"Only when Taiwan's security is guaranteed, can Taiwan's democratic tradition continue, allowing Taiwan to have ... the confidence to negotiate with China," he said.

At the same time, Chen urged the US government to help maintain the stability of the Asia-Pacific region by assisting Taiwan and China in constructing a cross-strait confidence-building mechanism.

"The spy plane collision crisis reveals the inability of agreements between China and the US to prevent events of such a nature," Chen said to a US Senate delegation yesterday at the Presidential Office.

"In addition, the `hotline' between the two countries' [US and China] heads is obviously problematic and the new national security task force of Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) only served limited functions [in the crisis]," Chen said. "Therefore, creating a military confidence-building mechanism between Taiwan and China under the US' assistance is of great urgency."

The president went on to say that the fact that China and the US continue to hold different opinions on many important issues proves the existence of uncertainties in their bilateral relationship.

"Taiwan and the US should jointly deal with the changes taking place in China -- including the transition of power, lurking nationalism, and military proliferation," Chen told the US senators.

The president made his remarks when he received a US Senate delegation, comprised of Phil Gramm, Robert Bennett, Jim Bunning, and Mike Crapo. The delegation was originally scheduled to visit China but they visited Taiwan instead because of the spy-plane incident.

Chen praised Bush for handling the plane collision crisis in a well-composed, calm and skillful manner, demonstrating the US government's firm yet flexible stance.

The delegation members said they would endeavor to improve relations between the two countries and help Taiwan enter international organizations.