Despite pledging not to begin political negotiations with China should he be re-elected, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was quoted in a leaked WikiLeaks cable released on Tuesday as having told the US that there was pressure from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to engage in talks on political topics.
“Although economics were his [Ma’s] priority in cross-Strait discussions, PRC [People’s Republic of China] military activities might require him to engage the PRC on political topics as well,” said a cable issued by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) dated Dec. 16, 2009, which detailed a meeting between Ma and Admiral Timothy Keating, who retired from the US Navy that month, shortly after finishing a 31-month stint as commander of the US Pacific Command.
“Despite warming economic ties ... the PRC military posture across the Strait remained unchanged,” the cable quoted Ma as saying, adding that “PLA activities in recent months demonstrated that Taiwan may need to move beyond economic discussions into political discussions with the mainland.”
Ma did not elaborate what “PLA activities” he was referring to.
The president told Keating that Taipei had told Beijing it needed to remove the missiles across the Taiwan Strait before any such military or security issues could be discussed, the cable said.
Ma said that Taiwan would maintain good relations with the US and he asked for US support as he worked to reach “a peace agreement” with the PRC, it said.
The cable did not elaborate on what Ma meant by “a peace agreement.”
Keating told Ma that the US had observed China’s military improvements in both capability and capacity, the cable said.
“PRC computer network attacks, space developments, expanding reach of PRC submarines, and advanced PRC electronic warfare capabilities had given the United States cause to question the PRC’s true intentions,” the cable showed Keating as saying.
The US would like China to be more transparent and candid about its intentions. Every day, through the combined efforts of responsible nations in the region, Keating said, the PRC received the message that it should not consider the use of force.
Ma said Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) had told then-US president George W. Bush that he could accept “one China, different interpretations” as a basis for cross-strait discussions.
This gave both sides the flexibility to make progress on practical matters, Ma said.
The cable showed that Keating was told by Ma that there was mainstream consensus in Taiwan on the need to maintain the “status quo.”
Taiwanese identity did not mean an independent Taiwan, Ma was quoted as saying in the cable, adding that Taiwan had no need to declare independence.
“The Republic of China had been a sovereign state for 98 years and [it] would not declare independence again,” Ma said.
At the meeting, Ma also urged the US to continue to provide Taiwan with weapons.
Improved cross-strait ties bolster regional security, Ma said, but they need to be balanced with improvements in Taiwan’s relationship with the US. In that respect, Ma said that continued US arms sales were particularly important, the cable showed.
The cable said Ma hoped the US would support the procurement of submarines to replace Taiwan’s four aging submarines, of which two are more than 60 years old, but he did not mention acquiring the F-16C/D aircraft.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
CABINET APPROVAL: People seeking assisted reproduction must be assessed to determine whether they would be adequate parents, the planned changes say Proposed amendments to the Assisted Reproduction Act (人工生殖法) advanced yesterday by the Executive Yuan would grant married lesbian couples and single women access to legal assisted reproductive services. The proposed revisions are “based on the fundamental principle of respecting women’s reproductive autonomy,” Cabinet spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Vice Premier Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君), who presided over a Cabinet meeting earlier yesterday, as saying at the briefing. The draft amendment would be submitted to the legislature for review. The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which proposed the amendments, said that experts on children’s rights, gender equality, law and medicine attended cross-disciplinary meetings, adding that
RSS