The US Department of State is declining for the first time to address an annual industry conference on defense and security ties between the US and Taiwan, the event’s organizer said.
US arms sales to Taiwan are a major sore spot with China. Still, the State Department has sent one of its senior officials to speak at the event each year for the past nine years, US-Taiwan Business Council president Rupert Hammond-Chambers said in an interview on Tuesday.
“It’s certainly a -disappoint-ment,” he said, although a senior Pentagon official will address the conference.
The State Department has overall responsibility for the US government’s Foreign Military Sales Program, under which billions of US dollars in military hardware and services are sold abroad annually. The US Department of Defense administers the program.
This year marks the 10th in the series of such business council-organized conferences on arms sales and security ties with Taiwan. It takes place in Richmond, Virginia, on Monday and Tuesday.
The State Department had no comment on why it was sitting out the event.
It falls 10 days before the Obama administration is due to make known its policy on Taiwan’s request to buy 66 F-16C/Ds built by Lockheed Martin Corp.
Since 2006, the US has balked at providing the F-16C/D models, potentially valued at more than US$8 billion, apparently for fear of angering Beijing.
The US will be represented by Peter Lavoy, acting assistant -secretary of defense for East Asia and the Pacific. Taiwan’s delegation will be headed by Deputy Minister of National Defense Andrew Yang (楊念祖), Hammond-Chambers said.
A spokesman for US Senator John Cornyn, who is spearheading a drive to mandate an F-16 sale to Taiwan if Obama refuses, regretted the State Department’s decision.
“It’s disappointing that, despite past involvement, the State Department does not plan to participate in such a critical forum for US-Taiwan security issues,” said Drew Brandewie, Cornyn’s spokesman.
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