Arms sales to Taiwan

Arms sales to Taiwan

This is in response to Mr. Jonathan Power's article titled Why
Beijing shouldn't be feared which appeared on page 5 of The
Jakarta Post's March 23, 1996 edition.

In the article, Mr. Power said, among other things, that "It
was a serious mistake for President George Bush to decide to
sell Taiwan state-of-the-art warplanes in clear contradiction of
a solemn U.S. promise to Beijing." Mr. Power is mistaken. The
United States never promised not to sell arms to Taiwan.

Article (6) of the so-called "United States-China Joint
Communique of Aug. 17, 1982" states that "....the United States
states that it does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of
arms sales to Taiwan, that its arms sales to Taiwan will not
exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms, the level
of those supplied in recent years since the establishment of
diplomatic relations between the United States and China, and
that it intends to reduce gradually its sales of arms to Taiwan,
leading over a period of time to a final resolution...."

Article (7) of the communique continues that "In order to
bring about, over a period of time, a final settlement of the
question of United States arms sales to Taiwan, which is an issue
rooted in history, the two governments will make every effort to
adopt measures and create conditions conducive to the thorough
settlement of this issue."

Sec. 2. (b) of "Taiwan Relations Act," a public law of the
United States that came into force on April 10, 1979, states that
"It is the policy of the United States to make clear that the
People's Republic of China rests upon the expectation that the
future of Taiwan will be determined by peaceful means (2) and it
is the policy of the United States to provide Taiwan with arms of
a defensive character (5)..."

The United States has approved only recently (on March 20) the
sale to Taiwan of Stinger surface-to-air missiles, an advanced
targeting and navigation system for fighter jets and electronic
warfare devices. This approved sale is based on the letter and
spirit of the Act and does not contradict the Communique.

DAVID Y.S. TZOU

Information Director

Taipei Economic and Trade Office

Jakarta