To the disappointment of Taiwan supporters in the US House of Representatives, the House Foreign Affairs Committee will not soon take up a bill the supporters introduced in late July aimed at pushing the administration of US President George W. Bush to lift a nearly year-long freeze on around US$12 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.
The bill would require that the administration provide Congress with “detailed briefings” on a regular basis on any discussions it has with Taiwan on the arms sales and on any “potential transfer” of weapons to Taiwan.
The briefings would enable Congress to help ensure that the sales go through.
The measure highlights the dismay lawmakers have felt over what they see as the administration’s failure to keep Congress informed on progress toward arms sales to Taiwan and on the reasons behind the freeze, Capitol Hill officials involved in drafting the legislation said.
The bill, which was introduced before Congress went out of session for its annual month-long Fall recess, had been expected to be brought to the committee for a vote this month.
But the committee’s chairman, Howard Berman, excluded the bill from a “markup” session that was scheduled for yesterday, in which the committee votes on bills and passes them on to the full House for deliberation. That session was the last markup for the committee before Congress adjourns on Friday next week.
Despite the omission, the bill’s chief sponsor and the ranking Republican member of the committee, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, remained optimistic it could be approved if Congress holds a “lame-duck” or special final session after the November elections.
“We’re going to continue fighting to make sure that Congress complies with the law of the land, the Taiwan Relations Act, that says the United States will defend Taiwan and will give her whatever equipment she needs,” Ros-Lehtinen told the Taipei Times.
“So I’m optimistic that when we come back, perhaps in the lame-duck session, that we will be able to pass the Taiwan bill that will give the military edge to Taiwan,” she said.
“The reason it has not passed yet is not because of [a] lack of support, just the lack of legislative days on the calendar,” Ros-Lehtinen said.
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS