Taiwan now shares a greater measure of responsibility for ensuring security in the Asia-Pacific region, a fact which the US has acknowledged in its move to sell advanced weaponry to Taiwan in this year's arms talks between the countries, President Chen Shui-bian (
"I believe that after obtaining these weapons, the people of Taiwan will be able to strengthen Taiwan's freedom and democracy and more confidently pursue constructive contacts and dialogues with the Chinese communists, bringing greater assurance to the task of safeguarding security in the Taiwan Strait," Chen said.
"Our national defense policy takes into account the common interests in peace and stability, which are shared by the entire Asia-Pacific region. The Republic of China will continue to do its utmost to protect the security of the Taiwan Strait and hopes that increased diplomacy and our new weapon systems will help make even greater contributions to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region as a whole," he said.
Chen made the statements in an article submitted to the magazine to be published on Wednesday.
In his article, Chen highlighted Taiwan's growing role in maintaining security in the Asia-Pacific region as well as the mounting military threat from China.
Chen first thanked US President George Bush for his decision "to provide Taiwan several types of defensive weapons" in this year's arms talks between Taiwan and the US.
Bush's decision makes Chen "aware that Taiwan now bears an even greater measure of responsibility for ensuring security in Asia and the Pacific."
Chen praised Bush for his clear understanding of Taiwan's defense requirements in the face of China's continuous arms build-up.
"The [People's Republic of China] has provocatively and consistently increased the number of M-9 and M-11 guided missiles it deploys along the southeast coast targeting Taiwan year after year, and continues to carry out threatening amphibious landings aimed at displaying their ability to storm the island," Chen said.
"At present, Taiwan's ability to defend itself against a [Chinese] missile attack or submarine blockade is rather weak," Chen said. "President Bush's approval of the sale of submarines and Kidd-class destroyers to Taiwan has persuaded the people of Taiwan that he shares our perceptions of [Taiwan's] defense requirements."
Chen went on to say that Taiwan's planned purchase of advanced weaponry is not for an arms race with China, but a response to China's aggressive arms build-up.
"The Chinese communists ... will not abandon the option of using military force against Taiwan and continue to aggressively build up their arms," Chen said.
"Their aggressive posture forces Taiwan to be all the more vigilant about its political relations with the PRC. As a point of fact, if the Chinese communists would not aim their missiles at us, we would not feel the need to seek to buy AEGIS-equipped destroyers or participate in the US' Theater Missile Defense program," he said.
"If the Chinese communists did not repeatedly threaten Taiwan with surface and underwater warfare and blockades, we would not be driven to purchase hunter-killer submarines," he said. "In other words, Taiwan's arms procurements are nothing more than a responsible move towards an existing threat," he said.
Ever since the end of the Cold War, Chen said, "[China] has attempted to stop the US and European countries selling advanced arms to ... Taiwan."
"By cutting off the delivery of the arms which Taiwan needs for self-defense, the cross-strait military balance would tilt in [China]'s favor and that, in turn, would force Taiwan to submit politically to the communists."
Chen said his administration is seeking to establish "confidence-building measures" to promote trust between Taiwan and China.
"[These measures are] derived from strategic European models, as our key defense strategy," Chen said.
"I believe that the implementation of these measures will effectively strengthen mutual trust, end the arms race across the Taiwan Strait and guarantee regional stability," he said.
"In fact, we have already published a white paper on defense strategy to formalize these objectives and hope that the PRC will reciprocate in full measure."
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