Print

Mail

wiki links

Tense times frighten US guests from National Day

Legislators expressed concern yesterday about a drop in the number of American guests that will attend Double Ten National Day celebrations and asked whether this was a sign of weakening ties with the US.

After President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said that he would give an important National Day speech on cross-strait relations, a number of US officials withdrew from Sun-day's ceremony, legislators said.

"Our friends are becoming fewer and fewer," Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said, citing the departure of Therese Shaheen, former chairwoman of the American Institute in Taiwan, and the detention in the US of Donald Keyser, the former US deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) told Hsiao at a question-and-answer session of the Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee that US officials were shunning National Day to avoid provoking China.

The timing is sensitive because the US presidential election is approaching, he said.

In response to questions about US Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Richard Lawless' warning of the consequences Taiwan may face if the legislature fails to pass a NT$610.8 (US$18 billion) budget to buy weapons, Mark Chen called for the country to unify and learn from Israel.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kwan Yuk-noan (關沃暖) asked Mark Chen to be careful of Lawless' "motives" in warning against the bill's collapse, saying that Lawless and Shaheen were once partners in the same "weapons company." Kwan asked whether Lawless' remarks were instead meant to serve the interests of US arms dealers.

Kwan was probably referring to the firm US Asia Commercial Development, whose Web site lists interests in telecommunications, other high-technology and information industries, aerospace, power and real estate.

DPP Legislator Hsieh Ming-yuan (謝明源), however, said the pan-blue parties were opposing the weapons budget for political gain.

"The KMT government itself brought up the proposal to buy submarines. Now it stands against the weapons procurement plan it proposed," Hsieh said.

Mark Chen said he would not speculate on the point Lawless was making but said he believed Lawless spoke out of goodwill.

"Americans have the right to express their opinions about the arms purchase. Mutual trust between Taiwan and the US will be affected if the legislature fails to pass the weapons budget," he said.

"How can Taiwan defend itself if it does not have even the determination to buy weapons?" he asked. "I support our government's arms purchase plan."

Mark Chen added that the Washington-based think tank Heritage Foundation had helped Taiwan look for a breakthrough in US relations.

This story has been viewed 2358 times.