Taiwan welcomed yesterday the passing of a proposed bill by a key US House of Representatives subcommittee to bolster US-Taiwan military ties.
After two hours of debate, the House International Relations Committee passed an amended version of the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act, put forth by the committee's Republican chairman, Representative Benjamin Gilman. The vote was passed with a wide margin of 32 votes to six.
"We thank those in public office for their support and concern for Taiwan," Minister of National Defense Tang Fei (
Tang, when asked if he had any criticisms, said only that it was an internal matter for the US and that he would rather not get involved.
During Tuesday's "mark-up" -- where the act is amended before moving onto the House's full committee -- a section of the original bill was removed that specified the sale of advanced weapons systems to Taiwan.
The original bill had included a section authorizing the president to provide -- in effect telling the Pentagon to sell -- Taiwan equipment including among other systems, AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles, diesel submarines and naval anti-missile systems including Aegis destroyers.
Tang said the removal was nothing to be overly concerned about.
"This does not affect our ability to obtain weapons systems through regular channels," he said.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Henry Chen (
In addition to seeking to develop further military relations between Taiwan and the US, the bill also proposes greater clarity for the support of Taiwan and its people.
"It is in the national interest of the United States to eliminate ambiguity and convey with clarity continued United States support for Taiwan, its people, and their ability to maintain their democracy free from coercion," the bill states.
However, the Clinton administration would rather that the ambiguity remain, said one foreign ministry official who wished to remain anonymous.
The foreign ministry has received pressure from the US executive branch, encouraging Taiwan to ease its lobbying efforts in Washington, he said.
"In the past it was the US who supported Taiwan's democracy and now the one who wants Taiwan to shut up is the United States," the official said.
Just before passage of the bill by the subcommittee, DPP lawmaker Parris Chang (
Chang said he was pleased that the bill had passed this stage because it could give a boost to Taiwan's self-defense interests.
In addition to calling for clear support of Taiwan's democratic accomplishments the bill also seeks to improve US-Taiwan military relations.
The measures include: the increase of technical staff at the American Institute in Taiwan, annual reports by the President -- classified and unclassified -- following arms talks between both sides and clear explanations of which weapons systems were requested, evaluation of Taiwan's self-defense capability and report of Taiwan's abilities, combined training and personnel exchange programs for "senior officers," as well as secure direct communications between US and Taiwan armed forces.
The version of the act passed by the committee also contained an added section which called on the Secretary of Defense to prepare a report to Congress within six months, updated when necessary, regarding the ability of the US to respond to "a major contingency in the Asia Pacific region where US interests on Taiwan are at risk." The report would have to detail what US strategic objectives were involved and how the US expected to be able to achieve them.
Some critics within the US government have cast doubt on whether the bill would pass, but Chang was optimistic that it could move forward and not be stopped in Congress or vetoed by the president.
"For defense purposes there are no reasons to object to the bill," Chang said.
By removing more controversial portions of the bill, the subcommittee has made the bill compelling for the Clinton administration prior to next year's US presidential elections, Chang added.
"If Clinton vetoes the bill with elections approaching he will have a considerable political price to pay," he said.
The combined effect of the monsoon, the outer rim of Typhoon Fengshen and a low-pressure system is expected to bring significant rainfall this week to various parts of the nation, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The heaviest rain is expected to occur today and tomorrow, with torrential rain expected in Keelung’s north coast, Yilan and the mountainous regions of Taipei and New Taipei City, the CWA said. Rivers could rise rapidly, and residents should stay away from riverbanks and avoid going to the mountains or engaging in water activities, it said. Scattered showers are expected today in central and
COOPERATION: Taiwan is aligning closely with US strategic objectives on various matters, including China’s rare earths restrictions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan could deal with China’s tightened export controls on rare earth metals by turning to “urban mining,” a researcher said yesterday. Rare earth metals, which are used in semiconductors and other electronic components, could be recovered from industrial or electronic waste to reduce reliance on imports, National Cheng Kung University Department of Resources Engineering professor Lee Cheng-han (李政翰) said. Despite their name, rare earth elements are not actually rare — their abundance in the Earth’s crust is relatively high, but they are dispersed, making extraction and refining energy-intensive and environmentally damaging, he said, adding that many countries have opted to
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
CONCESSION: A Shin Kong official said that the firm was ‘willing to contribute’ to the nation, as the move would enable Nvidia Crop to build its headquarters in Taiwan Shin Kong Life Insurance Co (新光人壽) yesterday said it would relinquish land-use rights, or known as surface rights, for two plots in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), paving the way for Nvidia Corp to expand its office footprint in Taiwan. The insurer said it made the decision “in the interest of the nation’s greater good” and would not seek compensation from taxpayers for potential future losses, calling the move a gesture to resolve a months-long impasse among the insurer, the Taipei City Government and the US chip giant. “The decision was made on the condition that the Taipei City Government reimburses the related
RSS