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Wang Jin-pyng expects movement on US arms sale

Taiwan hopes the US will make progress on arms procurement to Taiwan next month, following the conclusion of the Beijing Olympic Games, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said in New York on Friday.

Wang made the remarks prior to his departure for Taipei after wrapping up his nine-day US visit, which also took him to Washington.

Wang said he had held good discussions with US officials on the arms issue, which should have helped resolve US doubts about Taiwan’s determination to acquire the weapon systems.

Wang said the US side had repeatedly assured him that the administration of US President George W. Bush has not frozen arms sales to Taiwan and would comply with the provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act in handling the matter.

If the items were to be approved before the US Congress adjourns on Sept. 16, the Bush administration would have to submit notifications for the weapon systems to Congress for review by Aug. 16, midway through the Beijing Olympics, which end on Aug. 24, Wang said.

Wang said he did not believe Beijing would try to pressure the US into scrapping the deals during Bush’s visit to China to attend the opening ceremony on Friday, as the arms requests have been under discussion for a long time.

There have been reports that the Bush administration was holding back on the congressional notifications to avoid upsetting relations with China ahead of the Games.

Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of the US Pacific Command, fueled speculation during a speech last month that Washington might have frozen the screening process.

He said policy-makers in the administration had “reconciled Taiwan’s military posture, China’s current military posture and strategy that indicates there is no pressing, compelling need for, at the moment, arms sales to Taiwan.”

In response, the US Department of State said that Washington has not changed its policy on arms sales to Taiwan.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on July 18 that the administration “faithfully implements the Taiwan Relations Act” and that there was an “internal interagency process” for the US government to consider all military exports.

Concerned about the administration’s delays in screening the pending weapon sales, a group of 23 members of the US House of Representatives sent a joint letter to Bush on Thursday urging his administration to expedite consideration of the sales.

The group, led by representatives Shelley Berkley and Steve Chabot, co-chairs of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, requested that the administration brief Congress on the status of the sales.
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