Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
December 16, 2009
By Edward Wong
BEIJING — The Obama administration will proceed with arms sales to Taiwan despite recent protests by China, an American official said Tuesday.
The official, Raymond Burghardt, is chairman of the American Institute in Taipei, the de facto United States Embassy in Taiwan.
Speaking from Hawaii, where he lives, he said that sales of arms to Taiwan were consistent with what White House officials have been saying was President Obama’s policy. “No one should be surprised when we move forward with them,” he said.
Mr. Burghardt declined to say exactly when Mr. Obama would notify Congress of an arms sale. The American relationship with Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, is one of the most delicate diplomatic issues between Beijing and Washington. The United States takes no position on the sovereignty of Taiwan, but acknowledges that Beijing claims that there is only one China.
In the past week, Chinese officials and news organizations have expressed anger over reports that the Obama administration could notify Congress shortly of such arms sales. Notification is the final step in the process. American officials here say China could break off military-to-military contacts with the United States once notification is made. When the Pentagon announced in October 2008, under the Bush administration, that it was selling Taiwan $6.5 billion worth of weapons, China froze the military ties and did not resume the contacts until after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Beijing in February.
One of the biggest questions is whether the United States will sell advanced F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan. Officials under President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan continue to call for such jets; Taiwan has older models it bought in 1992. In 2008, the United States canceled a deal to sell 66 of the jets to Taiwan after China strongly objected. Mr. Burghardt said that the sale of F-16s was “under study.”
On Dec. 9, Reuters quoted Robert Kovac, a State Department official in Washington, as saying that the White House was preparing to notify Congress about a package of arms sales, including design work on diesel-electric submarines and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. Foreign Policy magazine also reported online that arms sales might occur soon.
Last Thursday, Chinese officials denounced any potential arms sales. “China is strongly against U.S. arms sales to Taiwan,” said Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
The English-language edition of the Global Times newspaper ran a headline that irked United States officials in Beijing after Mr. Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday: “Peace Prize winner to sell arms.”
Before Mr. Obama’s trip to China last month, senior White House officials began laying out the administration’s policy toward Taiwan. Jeffrey Bader, the senior director for East Asian affairs in the National Security Council, said in a speech in early November at the Brookings Institution that arms sales to Taiwan would continue.
American arms sales to Taiwan are governed by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, passed after the United States established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. It says the United States government “will make available to Taiwan” arms of a defensive nature.
Mr. Burghardt said the package put together by the White House would presumably include “advanced capability” Patriot missiles, which were among the items in the 2008 package.
Most arms in that package had been approved for sale in April 2001, but the Taiwan government, for domestic political reasons, took a long time to assemble the financing, Mr. Burghardt said. Likewise, he added, the arms that Mr. Obama would present have already been approved.
Zhang Jing contributed research.
December 16, 2009
By Edward Wong
BEIJING — The Obama administration will proceed with arms sales to Taiwan despite recent protests by China, an American official said Tuesday.
The official, Raymond Burghardt, is chairman of the American Institute in Taipei, the de facto United States Embassy in Taiwan.
Speaking from Hawaii, where he lives, he said that sales of arms to Taiwan were consistent with what White House officials have been saying was President Obama’s policy. “No one should be surprised when we move forward with them,” he said.
Mr. Burghardt declined to say exactly when Mr. Obama would notify Congress of an arms sale. The American relationship with Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province, is one of the most delicate diplomatic issues between Beijing and Washington. The United States takes no position on the sovereignty of Taiwan, but acknowledges that Beijing claims that there is only one China.
In the past week, Chinese officials and news organizations have expressed anger over reports that the Obama administration could notify Congress shortly of such arms sales. Notification is the final step in the process. American officials here say China could break off military-to-military contacts with the United States once notification is made. When the Pentagon announced in October 2008, under the Bush administration, that it was selling Taiwan $6.5 billion worth of weapons, China froze the military ties and did not resume the contacts until after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited Beijing in February.
One of the biggest questions is whether the United States will sell advanced F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan. Officials under President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan continue to call for such jets; Taiwan has older models it bought in 1992. In 2008, the United States canceled a deal to sell 66 of the jets to Taiwan after China strongly objected. Mr. Burghardt said that the sale of F-16s was “under study.”
On Dec. 9, Reuters quoted Robert Kovac, a State Department official in Washington, as saying that the White House was preparing to notify Congress about a package of arms sales, including design work on diesel-electric submarines and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. Foreign Policy magazine also reported online that arms sales might occur soon.
Last Thursday, Chinese officials denounced any potential arms sales. “China is strongly against U.S. arms sales to Taiwan,” said Jiang Yu, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman.
The English-language edition of the Global Times newspaper ran a headline that irked United States officials in Beijing after Mr. Obama received the Nobel Peace Prize on Thursday: “Peace Prize winner to sell arms.”
Before Mr. Obama’s trip to China last month, senior White House officials began laying out the administration’s policy toward Taiwan. Jeffrey Bader, the senior director for East Asian affairs in the National Security Council, said in a speech in early November at the Brookings Institution that arms sales to Taiwan would continue.
American arms sales to Taiwan are governed by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, passed after the United States established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. It says the United States government “will make available to Taiwan” arms of a defensive nature.
Mr. Burghardt said the package put together by the White House would presumably include “advanced capability” Patriot missiles, which were among the items in the 2008 package.
Most arms in that package had been approved for sale in April 2001, but the Taiwan government, for domestic political reasons, took a long time to assemble the financing, Mr. Burghardt said. Likewise, he added, the arms that Mr. Obama would present have already been approved.
Zhang Jing contributed research.