The US hopes to strengthen ties with Taiwan's Presidential Office as well as ensure Taiwan's national defense, sources in Washington said.
In the past, the US has dealt solely with the Ministry of National Defense in discussing security. But the defense ministry has only provided military perspectives on the region's security and, sources said, the trend toward civilian leadership should result in the role of Taiwan's military becoming "normalized."
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has already had three face-to-face briefings from US military delegations to give him a more thorough understanding of Taiwan-US military cooperation, the sources said.
At high-level joint security talks that began in July last year, the US requested that Taiwan send representatives from the Mainland Affairs Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Security Council to attend.
In future, the US also hopes to strengthen contacts with the National Security Council (NSC), which, the sources said, can play a coordinating role and integrate views within Taiwan on national security and strategic issues.
Taiwanese officials confirmed that the administration of US President George W. Bush would be happy to see Taiwan's NSC play a greater role in US-Taiwan security and strategic discussions.
The US government will strengthen direct communication with Taiwan's NSC on important military and security issues that affect the US and Taiwan, the officials said.
Through the NSC, the US will provide analyses and suggestions to Chen. With this in mind, the NSC will have to attract talent and strengthen is capabilities to deal with the increased responsibility, the officials said.
The US believes that the trend toward civilian control of the military will spread throughout Asia.
A Bush administration official who requested anonymity said the US believes Taiwan and even China will move toward civilian leadership of the military.
The official said this reflects pragmatic considerations rather than a concession to US values. In the US, civilian leadership of the military has proved more stable and has made it more difficult for the military to act against the interests of the people, he said.
The US believes Taiwan is moving in that direction, the official said, and that other Asian countries may do so in the future.
He added that the US did not want to dictate to Taiwan and that it believes Taiwan will make the right decisions.
Translated by Francis Huang
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