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Lee denies change in US arms stance

With the arms procurement bill still in limbo and the possibility of cross-strait unification at some point in the future, some Americans may be concerned that advanced military technology would fall into China's hands if Taiwan were to procure high-tech weapons from the US, Minister of National Defense Lee Jye (李傑) said yesterday.

Lee made the remarks in response to a query from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Su Chi (蘇起) in the legislature about an opinion piece by Hawaii-based writer Richard Halloran, which said that the US Pacific Command has "quietly encouraged Taiwan to strengthen its defenses ... [and] forego high-tech weapons that could be employed in offensive operations."

Su was referring to an editorial piece by Halloran in the Japan Times on Sept. 27.

The same piece appeared in the Taipei Times on Sept. 25. Halloran quoted anonymous US military officers as saying that the new commander of US forces in Asia and the Pacific, Admiral William Fallon, has urged Taiwan to acquire more strictly defensive weapons while seeking "to deter Beijing by reminding Chinese leaders that the US had the capability and resolve to help defend Taiwan."

Su said the article was credible and may indicate an adjustment in the US' attitude toward Taiwan.

"I do not have any such information form the Pacific Command, but because of a long-time boycott of the special arms bill, Americans have started feeling the pressure from the gradually increasing military imbalance in the Strait," Lee said.

"The information from the article may reflect some Americans' concern that selling high-tech arms to Taiwan might result in technology falling into the hands of the Chinese if the two countries reunify in the future," the minister added.

Lee, a former chief of the navy who has been promoting improvements to the country's submarine force, also said that Fallon may have a different view on Taiwan's defense requirements.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) told the Taipei Times that he does not agree with the opinion piece's thinking about Taiwan's defense situation, because pure defense of the homeland is a bad strategy.

"Those defensive weapons mentioned in the article are mainly to prevent an amphibious invasion by China, but Taiwan has transformed its military strategy to fight its enemy outside its borders, and that is why Taiwan needs to procure the advanced weapons systems," Lee Wen-chung said.

In light of the strategies favored by the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Taiwan should pay more attention to the possibility of an attack from China that would paralyze Taiwan's command and control systems while minimizing bloodshed and economic damage, rather than a regular amphibious invasion, the DPP legislator said.

Lee Jye's remarks reflected concern among Taiwanese military experts about the possible withdrawal of the US' security commitments to Taiwan if the arms bill fails to be approved.

Chang Kuo-cheng (張國城), former director of the DPP's department of Chinese affairs, said if the US concluded that unification with China was possible, the country would gradually withdraw its security commitments to Taiwan and stop selling it advanced weaponry, because Washington would be concerned that the technology might fall into the hands of the PLA.
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