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US senator urges
better arms support for Taiwan
Staff Writer, with CNA, Washington
US Senator John Cornyn on Wednesday said he did not think US President Barack
Obama¡¦s administration had fully observed the nation¡¦s commitment to providing
Taiwan with an efficient weapons system to meet its defense needs.
In an interview with the Central News Agency, the Republican senator said
although he had tried hard to persuade the US administration to sell F-16s to
Taiwan, he did not think it had completely fulfilled the terms of the Taiwan
Relations Act.
¡§We are looking for the opportunity to provide those airplanes to Taiwan. We
will use every tool. We are still working on, trying to come up with, that
strategy,¡¨ said Cornyn, who sits on the Senate¡¦s Finance, Judiciary, Armed
Services and Budget committees.
He said the US administration has made ¡§bad decisions¡¨ in terms of arms sales to
Taiwan, and ¡§also made our allies believe that the US is not reliable.¡¨
¡§The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act requires the US government to provide defense
weaponry to Taiwan, our ally and friend. I do not believe that we remember
that,¡¨ he said.
¡§I think we need a strategy to help our friends and allies to protect
themselves,¡¨ Cornyn said.
He said the US does not want to see a destruction of its security umbrella in
the region, with other countries deciding that they need nuclear weapons.
In an address on Wednesday at the Hudson Institute in Washington, titled
¡§Defending Defense,¡¨ Cornyn stressed the importance of the US maintaining its
defense budget.
¡§By cutting defense spending, we may be endangering our national security,¡¨ he
said. ¡§The defense strategy should drive defense spending, not the other way
around.¡¨
A US ¡§super-committee¡¨ is expected to issue recommendations soon for trimming
federal spending, which are seen likely to include cuts in the Pentagon¡¦s
budget.
¡§The questions before us are stark but simple: What are the threats to America¡¦s
peace and prosperity and to the peace and prosperity of other free peoples?¡¨
Cornyn asked.
¡§What¡¦s America¡¦s strategy to meet those threats?¡¨ he added.
Although other nations are facing economic and fiscal challenges similar to
those of the US, they are making the investments in military capabilities they
think they need, he said.
¡§China still has hundreds of millions of people in poverty, yet it¡¦s made huge
investments to upgrade its military forces. Iran has been willing to endure
years of economic sanctions in order to pursue its nuclear weapons program,¡¨ he
said.
¡§So how do I suggest that we proceed? I say: Let¡¦s get the strategy right
first,¡¨ Cornyn said.
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