A high-ranking US Department of Defense official on Thursday reaffirmed Washington's commitment to defend Taiwan against any military action by China, while again urging Taiwan to beef up its capability to defend itself.
William Fallon, commander of the US Pacific Command (PACOM), said that until China renounces any intention of using force to resolve the Taiwan issue, the US will maintain sufficient military capability in the region to meet its obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA).
"While consistently seeking to assure the [People's Republic of China] of our desire for peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues, we retain our strong commitment to the defense of Taiwan should it be threatened by PRC military action," Fallon said in his written statement before the Armed Services Committee in the House of Representatives.
defense
"In this regard, we have firmly and consistently advocated a stronger commitment and investment by Taiwan in its own defense. We welcome the general reduction in cross-strait tension between China and Taiwan but recognize the potential for danger in this relationship," he added.
Fallon noted that PACOM activities in this region are guided by the TRA, the three joint US-China communiques and the "one China" policy.
Under the TRA, the US has the obligation to assist Taiwan in maintaining its self-defense capability and retain the capacity to resist any use of force against Taiwan, he said.
"Our efforts are aimed to prevent miscalculation which might result in conflict," he said.
Fallon pointed out that China has continued to acquire new hardware and expand its military capabilities, a situation which he said calls for "close attention" by the US.
"While not constituting a capability near that of the United States, the increasing sophistication and size of modern military equipment, coupled with the lack of clear national intent with regard to this military capability, merits our close attention," Fallon said.
He also expressed frustration to US lawmakers over bickering in Taipei over whether to accept a huge US arms package.
"They've got me in a bit of a box here," Fallon said. "The history is that they have not been forthcoming in investing in their own defense."
He added, "I don't understand their reluctance to move forward."
The US has offered Taiwan an arms package that includes missiles, submarines and anti-submarine aircraft. Taiwan's defense ministry has said it needs the package to prevent the military balance from sliding too far in China's favor, and to maintain a chance of victory in a possible conflict.
For more than a year, the opposition in Taiwan has been blocking the deal, saying the weapons in the package are not suited to Taiwan's needs and would trigger an arms race with China.
investment
"What I would like to see," Fallon testified, "is some steps being made, some investment by Taiwan to actually acquire some of these capabilities, and to improve their own readiness."
He said enhancing Taiwan's ability to defend itself is the focus of the military engagement with the nation and that the US has seen strong interest by Taiwan in strengthening its defensive capabilities.
"We will continue to encourage their acquisition of useful technologies and a strong commitment to their own defense," he added.
Considering that most countries issue more than five denominations of banknotes, the central bank has decided to redesign all five denominations, the bank said as it prepares for the first major overhaul of the banknotes in more than 24 years. Central bank Governor Yang Chin-lung (楊金龍) is expected to report to the Legislative Yuan today on the bank’s operations and the redesign’s progress. The bank in a report sent to the legislature ahead of today’s meeting said it had commissioned a survey on the public’s preferences. Survey results showed that NT$100 and NT$1,000 banknotes are the most commonly used, while NT$200 and NT$2,000
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday reported the first case of a new COVID-19 subvariant — BA.3.2 — in a 10-year-old Singaporean girl who had a fever upon arrival in Taiwan and tested positive for the disease. The girl left Taiwan on March 20 and the case did not have a direct impact on the local community, it said. The WHO added the BA.3.2 strain to its list of Variants Under Monitoring in December last year, but this was the first imported case of the COVID-19 variant in Taiwan, CDC Deputy Director-General Lin Ming-cheng (林明誠) said. The girl arrived in Taiwan on
South Korea is planning to revise its controversial electronic arrival card, a step Taiwanese officials said prompted them to hold off on planned retaliatory measures, a South Korean media report said yesterday. A Yonhap News Agency report said that the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs is planning to remove the “previous departure place” and “next destination” fields from its e-arrival card system. The plan, reached after interagency consultations, is under review and aims to simplify entry procedures and align the electronic form with the paper version, a South Korean ministry official said. The fields — which appeared only on the electronic form
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is suspending retaliation measures against South Korea that were set to take effect tomorrow, after Seoul said it is updating its e-arrival system, MOFA said today. The measures were to be a new round of retaliation after Taiwan on March 1 changed South Korea's designation on government-issued alien resident certificates held by South Korean nationals to "South Korea” from the "Republic of Korea," the country’s official name. The move came after months of protests to Seoul over its listing of Taiwan as "China (Taiwan)" in dropdown menus on its new online immigration entry system. MOFA last week
RSS