The results of the US presidential election are not expected to significantly affect the US government's arms sales policy toward Taiwan, a think tank academic said on Tuesday.
Michael Swaine, a senior researcher of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), made the remarks after attending a CEIP-sponsored seminar on China's military modernization and Taiwan's security.
The latest edition of Defense News, a US weekly, indicates that Taiwan has reiterated its desire to order US-made F-16 C/D fighter jets but is now facing an obstacle in striking a deal with the US.
The reports quoted US sources as saying the administration of US President George W. Bush is likely to approve the sale after the US presidential election in November next year and that should the Democratic Party win, it will be less sympathetic toward Taiwan.
Nevertheless, Swaine said, no matter which party comes to power, US arms sales policy will be consistent in supplying Taiwan with sufficient defensive weapons.
Swaine also said the US government is not expected to link its sales of F-16s to President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) plan to push for a referendum on Taiwan's bid to join the UN under the name "Taiwan" alongside next year's presidential election.
Responding to Chen's plan unveiled last month, US State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said that "the United States opposes any initiative that appears designed to change Taiwan's status unilaterally. This would include a referendum on whether to apply to the United Nations under the name of 'Taiwan.'"
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
Taipei and other northern cities are to host air-raid drills from 1:30pm to 2pm tomorrow as part of urban resilience drills held alongside the Han Kuang exercises, Taiwan’s largest annual military exercises. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Yilan County, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to hold the annual Wanan air defense exercise tomorrow, following similar drills held in central and southern Taiwan yesterday and today respectively. The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Maokong Gondola are to run as usual, although stations and passenger parking lots would have an “entry only, no exit” policy once air raid sirens sound, Taipei
Taiwan is bracing for a political shake-up as a majority of directly elected lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) face the prospect of early removal from office in an unprecedented wave of recall votes slated for July 26 and Aug. 23. The outcome of the public votes targeting 26 KMT lawmakers in the next two months — and potentially five more at later dates — could upend the power structure in the legislature, where the KMT and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) currently hold a combined majority. After denying direct involvement in the recall campaigns for months, the
RSS