US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton affirmed on Monday that there would be no change in Washington’s policy on arms sales to Taiwan under the administration of US President Barack Obama.
Clinton, who departed on Sunday for a four-nation Asia visit — her first overseas trip since assuming office — made the remarks in an interview during her flight to Japan, her first stop.
Clinton said US policy with respect to Taiwan “remains as it has been” because it is based on Washington’s long-standing “one China” policy, the three communiques with China and the Taiwan Relations Act.
“And under the Taiwan Relations Act, there is a clear provision that the United States will provide support for Taiwan’s defense. And that is why there have been, over the many years, the sale of defensive materials to Taiwan,” she said.
Clinton said she was pleased with the decreased tensions and increasing cooperation between Taiwan and China over the past months, which she said is a direction that the US wants to support and promote.
The US has long been Taiwan’s most important weapons supplier, despite this being an irritant in US-China relations.
In the latest arms deal between the two sides, the administration of former US president George W. Bush late last year approved the sale of a package of weapons to Taiwan including 30 Apache attack helicopters, 330 advanced capability Patriot (PAC-3) missiles, 32 Harpoon sub-launched missiles, 182 Javelin guided missiles and four E-2T system upgrades.
The move drew strong protest from China, which reacted by suspending military-to-military exchanges and nonproliferation talks with the US.
The contacts are expected to resume sometime next week, media reports said.
China will be the final leg of Clinton’s Asia trip, which will also take her to Indonesia and South Korea.
In response to the news, Ministry of National Defense Spokeswoman Major-General Lisa Chi (池玉蘭) said yesterday that the military welcomed the US administration’s decision to maintain its arms sales policy on Taiwan.
A stable peace in the Taiwan Strait would be in the interest of Taiwan, the US and all countries in the region, Chi said.
Continuing to offer Taiwan defensive weapons would help maintain a stable peace in the Taiwan Strait, she added.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
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