The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday approved a bill that would appear to recognize the George W. Bush administration's plan to replace annual spring arms-sales talks with Taiwan military officials with a year-round series of discussions on specific arms requests.
But the bill also eliminated a number of provisions in parallel legislation in the House of Repr-esentatives -- setting the stage for what could be tough negotiations in the autumn on several aspects of US policy toward Taiwan.
The committee approved a measure that would require the administration to give Congress detailed briefings every 90 days concerning any discussions between US government agencies and Taiwan officials on potential arms sales.
The provision was contained in a broader bill the committee approved that would fund the operations of the State Department and other foreign affairs agencies for next year and 2003.
For the past two decades, the US and Taiwan have held annual discussions, usually in April, in which Washington informed officials from Taiwan about its response to the annual wish list of armaments Taiwan presented, usually late the previous year.
In April, President Bush announced his plan to scrap this ritual, and instead hold talks with Taiwan on a case-by-case basis when needed.
The House of Representatives, in its version of the foreign operations appropriation bill, demanded the continuation of the annual talks, but the provision was stripped in the Senate version. It was replaced by the Foreign Relations Committee with the 90-day provision.
The Senate bill also stripped a number of provisions favorable to Taiwan that were contained in the House-approved bill.
One such provision would upgrade Taiwan's status under US arms export control laws, requiring the administration to treat Taiwan as the "equivalent of a major non-NATO ally," for the purpose of sales of defense items or services.
Another would urge but not mandate the administration to publicly display the US flag in the office of the American Institute in Taiwan and in the residence of the director "in the same manner as US embassies, consulates and official residences throughout the world."
The House version also expressed the "sense of the Congress" that any resolution of cross-strait issues "be peaceful and include the assent of the people of Taiwan."
That provision called Taiwan a "mature democracy that fully respects human rights."
And the House bill would have continued the mandatory semiannual administration reports on efforts to support Taiwan's membership or participation in international organizations, as well as formally approve the sale of four Kidd-class destroyers, which the administration approved as part of this spring's arms-sales package.
Since the House and Senate bills are different, a conference made up of representatives of both chambers, which will probably convene in September, after a month-long August congressional recess slated to begin this weekend, will address those differences.
But the differences will underscore the fact that the Senate is controlled by Democrats, in the wake of this spring's shift by Vermont Senator James Jeffords from the Republican to the Independent camp, while the House is controlled by members of Bush's Republican Party.
In addition to the four Kidd-class destroyers, the US' last arms package sale offered Taiwan eight diesel submarines.
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