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Lin Yu-fang says all at fault in arms impasse

All parties involved in Taiwan-US relations share responsibility for the current impasse on US arms sales to Taiwan, Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), chairman of the Legislative Yuan’s Diplomacy and National Defense Committee, said in Washington on Thursday.

Lin, who is heading a delegation for talks with US officials, congressmen and think tanks, cast blame on his own Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), as well as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the US government in the arms sales standoff that has led to the current “freeze” in the arms sales process.

At a press conference for Taiwan reporters at the end of his trip to Washington, Lin said there had been many “misunderstandings” on the issue between the two countries, and that his main purpose in coming to Washington was to try to overcome those misunderstandings.

Lin said he was pessimistic about the US Congress’ ability to approve the US$11 billion arms package being held up by the administration of US President George W. Bush this year.

As a result, the decision will have to go to the new president that US voters elect in November, and “everything will have to start over again,” he said in remarks translated for the Taipei Times.

Lin hit out at the DPP for spreading negative information about the KMT in Washington.

He said the DPP had told Washington that the KMT was “anti-arms sales” and never wanted to buy advanced F-16C/D fighters, and that the KMT only cares about China and doesn’t care about the US.

As for the KMT, Lin conceded that the party, which has control of the Legislative Yuan, was also responsible for delaying approval of the budget for the arms that Taiwan sought to buy from the US.

As for the US’ responsibility, Lin said that although the Legislative Yuan approved funds for the design of the diesel-electric subs, the US tried to charge Taiwan an exorbitant sum of more than US$1.1 billion per vessel and did not send Taiwan a so-called “PNA” giving price and availability until years after Taiwanese lawmakers approved the funding.

In addition, the US has never used the budget allocation to begin the design process that Taiwan approved, he said.

US specialists familiar with the issue feel that Taiwan may never get the subs because China has drawn a red line at the supply of the subs, in view of the threat Beijing feels they might pose to China.

On other items, Lin said the Bush administration was also to blame for delaying sending PNA’s, which inhibited the Legislative Yuan’s action on the sales.

Nevertheless, Lin said he was optimistic about prospects for the eventual US sales of items other than the subs and the F16s.

Lin called the arms sales issue the “touchstone” of overall Taiwan and US relations.

The issue is not only about procurement, but about the whole Taiwan-US relationship, he said.

The lawmaker said he found US attitudes toward Taiwan very complex and conflicting.

Using the analogy of a family with a marriage-age daughter, he said that while the family is anxious for the girl to marry, when she does find a man, they are very nervous and unsure about her marriage and afraid of her leaving them.

In the same way, Lin said he found in his talks with US officials and academics that while they favored advances toward China by the government of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), they also had concerns over whether he was going too far at the expense of US-Taiwan relations.

Lin said he doubted China would try to use the arms issue as a bargaining chip in US-China relations, for instance taking revenge on Taiwanese businesses in China for US arms sales. Beijing knows, he asserted, that if it tried to manipulate the arms issue for its own purposes, that would engender a backlash in Taiwan and that the Taiwanese would feel that “the price of engagement with China is too high.”

That is not what the Chinese government wants, he said.
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