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Kau pooh-poohs Iraq deployment

Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (高英茂) said yesterday it is almost impossible for Taiwan to send troops to Iraq because the deployment would unavoidably touch on sensitive international issues and involve the UN.

William Triplett's article "Send in the (Taiwan) Marines" in the US magazine Human Events triggered heated discussions in the legislature's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee, where legislators expressed diverse opinions on the idea of being militarily engaged in Iraq.

On May 20, two pro-Taiwan US House members introduced a resolution calling on US President George W. Bush to ask Taiwan to deploy marines to Iraq.

Kau said during the committee's question-and-answer session that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) held a meeting on May 3 to discuss Triplett's proposal.

The meeting concluded it is impossible to carry out the proposal, Kau said.

Participants in the meeting, which was hosted by MOFA's Research and Planning Board, included retired Admiral Nelson Ku (顧崇廉), now a People First Party (PFP) legislator, and officials from the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Mainland Affairs Department and the National Security Council.

Kau said the meeting was a routine one to review international news. As Triplett's article was published on April 27, it was natural to include it in the review, he said.

"It will take a long time for the [US] resolution to be passed," said Kau, adding that some officials and media outlets have overreacted to the proposal.

Taiwan has a history of offering humanitarian aid in Afghanistan and Iraq, but whether it should expand its involvement depends on developments in these areas, Kau said.

"We are not doing everything the US bids us to do," Kau said.

Kau said the ministry did not participate in drafting the resolution put forth by Republican Representative Dana Rohrabacher, co-chairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, and Republican Representative Jim Ryun, also a member of the Taiwan Caucus.

The US representatives did not inform the ministry of the resolution ahead of introducing it, nor did they have Taiwanese and US officials discuss any deployment, Kau said.

PFP Legislator Tsai Chung-han (蔡中涵) expressed concern the proposal may make Taiwan a terrorist target.

However, DPP Legislator Trong Tsai (蔡同榮), also founding president of the lobby group Formosan Association for Public Affairs, which reportedly played a significant role in initiating the resolution, advocated the military deployment to Iraq.

Recalling the US dispatching aircraft carriers to protect Taiwan amid high cross-strait tensions, Trong Tsai said: "Without US help, Taiwan would have been in China's grasp long ago."

"Doing so will benefit Taiwan in the long run," he said, adding that sending marines to Iraq would mark the start of another phase of Taiwan-US military cooperation.

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