Taiwan is paying close attention to negotiations in the lead-up to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) among UN member countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, amid worries expressed by academics that the treaty could make it difficult for Taiwan to purchase weapons from the US.
Taiwan is aware of the proposed UN weapons agreement and will keep abreast of developments, Lily Hsu (徐儷文), head of the ministry’s Department of International Organizations, said at a press conference.
“The ministry is looking into the matter and will ask its de-facto embassies to collect relevant information,” she said.
The UN started paying close attention to the global weapons trade in 2006 in light of poor regulations and standards. The ATT was proposed in an effort to ensure that armaments are transferred for appropriate use. Negotiations on the treaty are to be held in New York from July 2 to July 22.
In a report published last week, researchers at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation said that if it is successful, the treaty would hinder Taiwan’s right to purchase or import arms because it is not a UN member state.
“The ATT thus provides the basis for a Chinese argument that US sales of arms to Taiwan would circumvent the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] import control system, violate China’s territorial integrity and thus violate the treaty,” the paper said.
Providing Taiwan with defensive weapons is a long-standing policy of the US under its Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the “six assurances.”
The TRA, enacted in 1979 when Washington decided to sever formal diplomatic ties with Taipei, obliges the US to help Taiwan defend itself. In 1982, then-US president Ronald Reagan offered Taiwan “six assurances,” which included a promise that the US would not set a date for the termination of arms sales to Taiwan.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all