林中斌 部落格 / Blog Chong-Pin Lin

US has two main concerns over arms sales to Taiwan: ex official

Staff Reporter 2013-11-05 15:57 (GMT+8)

Lin Chong-pin at a book launch on Dec. 5, 2009. (Photo/China Times)
 
 

The United States has two major concerns regarding the sale of advanced weapons systems to Taiwan, reports China's Global Times, citing Taiwan's former deputy defense minister Lin Chong-pin.

Lin, now a professor at the Graduate Institute of Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in New Taipei, made the remarks to the paper during a seminar held in Shanghai on Nov. 2.

Taiwan recently received its first batch of P-3C Orion anti-submarine aircraft and AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from the US, though Washington remains wary of the situation between Taiwan and China and has two main concerns, according to Lin.

Lin said the United States does not want through providing weapons to encourage Taiwan to declare formal independence from China, as it will trigger a direct confrontation between China and the United States. The US is also concerned that sensitive American military technology may end up in the hands of the People's Liberation Army if China and Taiwan were to unify, Lin added.

Faced with these concerns, Lin said Washington has been hesitant over its arms sales to Taiwan for the past ten years. Meanwhile, many in Taiwan have come to the realization that American weapons alone cannot help defend Taiwan from the PLA, but they are still better than nothing, he said.

Taiwan has lost the ability to compete against China in military development since 2005, according to Lin. However, he stressed that China needs to think beyond its military when dealing with Taiwan in the current global climate.

With a democratic political system in Taiwan, the best way for Beijing to accomplish its strategic goal of unification is to win the support of ordinary Taiwanese citizens, and Beijing should consider giving Taipei more international space, Lin said.

He added that if China were to gain the trust of the Taiwanese public, it could potentially eliminate all of the obstacles which prevent both Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang and main opposition Democratic Progressive Party from launching political dialogue across the strait. Lin said that under the new Beijing administration of Xi Jinping, relations between the two sides will see a major breakthrough by 2020.