Fri, Apr 29, 2011 page3

• Taiwan spares no effort in maintaining ties with US

  • Staff Writer, with CNA
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Taiwan is sparing no effort in ensuring that its relations with the US remain steady despite a recent trade dispute and a series of personnel changes in the US administration, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) said yesterday.

  “We have been trying to make new friends and keep in touch with our old friends,” Shen told lawmakers in the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee.

  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also striven to minimize the damage to US-Taiwan relations caused by Taiwan’s partial ban on US beef imports, he said.

  In January, Taipei blocked some shipments of US beef after it was found that the meat contained residues of ractopamine, a -leanness-enhancing drug that is banned in meat products in Taiwan. The move was seen by the US as a violation of a beef protocol that the US and Taiwan signed in 2009.

  In the committee meeting, lawmakers raised questions about the possible effects of the beef dispute and other developments in Taiwan’s relations with the US — in particular on Taiwan’s efforts to upgrade its fleet of F-16A/B aircraft by purchasing F-16C/Ds.

  In response, Shen said that Taiwan’s hopes of starting a new round of negotiations with the US under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) had been hindered by the ractopamine dispute.

  US Trade Representative Ronald Kirk recently said that the US was disappointed over the beef row with Taiwan.

  Aside from the beef row, another concern is that there have been several personnel changes in the Asian-Pacific affairs division of the US government since the second half of last year, the lawmakers said.

  These changes include the resignation of US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and the reassignment of Deputy Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs David Shear to the post of US Ambassador to Vietnam earlier this month, the legislators said.

  They also mentioned US President Barack Obama’s announcement this week that CIA Director Leon Panetta had been nominated to replace outgoing US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

  In addition, Derek Mitchell, former principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs who worked as a reporter in Taiwan in 1989, has been appointed as a special envoy to Myanmar, they said.

  Another resignation was that of Wallace Gregson, former assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security affairs, last month.

  The changes left Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, as the longest-serving senior official dealing with Asia affairs in the Obama administration.

  Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) raised concerns about the effects of these changes on Taiwan’s arms procurement plans, while Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Peng Shao-chin (彭紹瑾) mentioned the possible impact on trade in general.

  In response, Shen said the ministry had always worked hard to maintain relationships with serving and retired US officials and to establish contacts on Capitol Hill.

  For example, arrangements are now being made for former US secretary of defense William Perry, who served during the administration of former US president Bill Clinton, to visit Taiwan, Shen said.

  Regarding the beef dispute, he said Taiwan had done its best to explain the matter to the US and had been trying to make sure the issue would not affect other efforts, such as Taiwan’s bid to join the US visa-waiver program.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Dozens of Taiwanese missing in China

  • 2

    Chinese who disrupted HK event deported

  • 3

    Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh badge a hit at Japan festival

  • 4

    PRC could not be ‘motherland,’ William Lai says

  • 5

    Donovan’s Deep Dives: China is already at war with Taiwan and countries across the globe