US-Taiwan Business Council chairman Paul Wolfowitz told a gathering of the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei yesterday that he believed the administration of US President George W. Bush would recommence arms sales to Taiwan before Bush leaves office in January.
Wolfowitz, a close ally of Bush who served as US deputy secretary of defense from 2001 to 2005 and played a key role in the US invasion of Iraq, said he was confident the arms freeze would be lifted, as the US president had made a commitment in April 2001, and that Bush is “strong on commitments” and “treats commitments as commitments.”
“I believe that the packages will go forward and the US will keep its word,” he said.
Wolfowitz’s comments come against the backdrop of a halt in the processing of weapons sales to Taiwan this year ahead of Bush’s trip to the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Beijing on Aug. 8 and mixed messages from Washington about whether the freeze is official.
Commander of US forces in the Pacific Admiral Timothy Keating told the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington last Wednesday that the freeze was “administration policy,” while just two days later a State Department official refused to say there was such a policy.
Stressing that he was speaking as a “private citizen” throughout his 45-minute speech, the former World Bank president later questioned Keating’s authoritativeness on the subject, saying he was not a government spokesman.
Commenting on recent cross-strait developments, Wolfowitz said that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) three noes policy — no unification, no independence and no use of force — had made a big contribution to peace in the region and put things on the right path.
He said the reduction in tension and increased contact across the Strait would make it easier for Washington to have good relations with both Taiwan and China.
To improve perceptions of Taiwan in the US, Wolfowitz said it was important not to “focus on the past” and that Taiwan should try to increase visits by opinion makers such as academics and politicians.
People of influence with first-hand understanding of Taiwan would help the nation in its quest for increased international space, he said.
Praising Taiwan’s successful transition from dictatorship to democracy, Wolfowitz said that although he was a long-time friend of former Singaporean prime minister Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀), he disagreed with the theory that Asian people do not mind being told what to do by government.
He added that he had been heartened to hear that Chinese people had been “glued to their televisions” waiting for the results of Taiwan’s presidential election in March.
In the long term, he said, he was confident that Taiwan would have a bigger influence on China than vice versa.
The US-Taiwan Business Council is a non-profit organization established in 1976 to promote trade and business relations between Taiwan and the US and is very active in promoting defense-related trade.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source