Lawmakers, activists pan Burma MOU
　

DEAL WITH THE DEVIL: Officials and Burmese activists said TAITRA’s signing of an MOU with a trade group in Myanmar would support the country’s military junta
　

By Loa Iok-sin
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Jun 20, 2009, Page 1

Lawmakers and Free Burma activists yesterday condemned the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) for signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) to increase investment in the military junta-controlled country.

“On June 13, just days before the birthday of [Burmese democracy leader] Aung San Suu Kyi — a leader who has been under house arrest by the military junta since 1989 — TAITRA signed an MOU with the UMFCCI, aimed at encouraging Taiwanese businesses to invest in Myanmar,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) told a press conference at the Legislative Yuan. “As the international community condemns the military junta for its authoritarian rule and violations of human rights, and imposes sanctions on it, our government seems to care more about making money than democratic values.”

Instead of trying to establish closer economic ties with Myanmar, Tien urged the government to support Burmese democracy activists.

“President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should ask the military junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Myanmar,” Tien said.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) also urged the public to pay attention to the issue and offer support to democracy movements in neighboring countries, including Myanmar.

“Doing business in a country like Myanmar means working with the military junta, bribing its officials and engaging in forced labor,” Taiwan Free Burma Network convener Son Yu-lian (孫友聯) said

DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) urged the government to condemn the military junta.

“We should not remain silent on this issue, especially after President Ma Ying-jeou signed two international human rights covenants earlier this year,” he said.

When contacted by the Taipei Times yesterday, Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said the government had no plan to express support for Aung San Suu Kyi.

TAITRA is an organization founded and run jointly by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and several private commercial and industrial organizations to promote trade relations between Taiwan and other countries.

TAITRA’s planning and finance department was in charge of signing the MOU with its counterpart in Myanmar. But officials at the department did not immediately return a request for comment last night.

An official from TAITRA’s market development department, who preferred to remain anonymous because she wasn’t authorized to speak to the press, dismissed lawmaker criticism, saying she viewed the MOU as a pact reached between two private organizations, not government agencies.

　

China envoy to visit Washington
　

ARMS ARGY-BARGY: Taiwan Affairs Office Director Wang Yi will visit as speculation grows that Washington is on the verge of agreeing to a weapons deal with Taipei

By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER , WASHINGTON
Saturday, Jun 20, 2009, Page 3

Washington sources say that Wang Yi (王毅), director of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, will be in the US next week for talks with the US State Department about potential future arms sales to Taiwan.

The visit comes amid speculation that the administration of US President Barack Obama is on the verge of deciding to sell F-16 fighter aircraft and diesel submarines to Taipei.

“While I have not been specifically told, I presume that he is coming to object to arms sales to Taiwan and to say that such a move would damage US-China relations,” a US diplomatic source said. “We need Chinese cooperation on a number of fronts right now — not least North Korea — but I doubt that Wang Yi will have a lot of impact.”

The State Department refused to confirm Wang’s visit, a Taiwanese official in Washington said that he had not been informed about it and the Chinese embassy in Washington did not respond to inquiries on the subject.

However, a source with close ties to the State Department and Taiwan said that Wang would visit and that the weapons sales would be high on his agenda.

Another source said that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had greatly pleased the Obama administration with his pro-China policies that have reduced tensions across the Taiwan Strait and there was an inclination to help him because China continues a massive arms buildup and it has not reduced the number of missiles it has pointed at Taiwan.

In April, during a well-publicized video conference call with China experts in Washington in April, Ma stressed the need for Taiwan to continue acquiring weapons.

Then late last month, Ma called US politicians from his hotel in Los Angeles — during an overnight stopover on his way to Central America — to push for Washington to sell F-16C/D fighters to Taiwan.

He talked with Republican Senator John McCain and at least nine Congressmen who were all sympathetic to his plea. Later they said Ma had argued that he had been able to improve relations with China even after last October’s announcement by former US president George W. Bush that he was selling more weapons to Taipei. Ma said the new fighter sales would not undermine the current policy or dramatically increase tensions with Beijing.

In addition to the F-16s, Taiwan also wants eight diesel submarines, but may be ready to build the vessels in Taiwan from US plans and with US-supplied weapons and communications equipment.

There has been speculation that an announcement on the diesel submarines may come in August.

Beijing may have decided to send Wang to Washington following reports earlier this month that there was a general consensus on Capitol Hill in favor of selling F-16s to Taiwan.

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on June 9 that she wished that Taiwan already had the diesel submarines.

“I have always been a strong advocate legislatively in the Congress of making those weapons systems vital to the defense of Taiwan readily available, as called for in the Taiwan Relations Act,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “I also advocate the provision of a new generation of F-16 aircraft for the defense of Taiwan and hope that the Obama Administration will act expeditiously on this matter.”

For its part, the Obama administration has remained very quiet on the subject.

However, Kurt Campbell, speaking during his Senate confirmation hearing last week as assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, said there were “discussions under way right now” on the outstanding request for arms sales to Taiwan.

Democratic Senator Jim Webb, chairman of the Foreign Relations Asia subcommittee, asked Campbell what he thought about supplying Taiwan with F-16 fighters, Black Hawk helicopters and design assistance for diesel electric submarines.

“There are specifics — discussions under way right now. I’m not in the Department of State, so I’m not going to comment on them,” Campbell said.

His remarks were the first official confirmation that the Obama administration is working on future arms sales to Taiwan.

DPP raises concerns over Su Chi's brother's PRC job
　

By Rich Chang
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Jun 20, 2009, Page 3

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said that the government neglected national security concerns when it allowed a top security official’s family member to teach at a Chinese university.

National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi’s (蘇起) younger brother, National Chengchi University law professor Su Yung-chin (蘇永欽), currently serves as a visiting professor at Zhejiang University in China.

DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) yesterday criticized the government for placing no restrictions on family members of high-ranking officials when they visit or work in China.

“Su Chi’s wife, Chen Yue-ching (陳月卿), went to Beijing in April to promote her book. At the time the Presidential Office said ‘it would not happen again,’ and now Su Chi’s younger brother takes up a job as a professor at Zhejiang University in China. Will the Presidential Office tell the public that it won’t happen again?” Cheng said.

Noting that Su Yung-chin formerly served as chairman of the National Communications Commission, Cheng said he could have easily found a teaching job in Taiwan.

“We do not see any reason why he has to take a job in China,” Cheng said.

Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said at a separate setting yesterday that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was aware of the matter, but that “Su Chi and Su Yung-chin are not direct relatives.”

Wang said in modern society brothers live their own separate lives, and their relationship was unlike that of a husband and wife. Su Ying-chin’s academic activities in China were not a matter of national security, he said.

In response, Cheng said the Presidential Office’s explanation was not convincing and criticized the Ma government and Su Chi’s family for failing to realize the sensitivity of their activities in China and the public’s negative impression of their conduct.

DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) said officials involved in national security affairs have to take tests before they take up their posts and that one of the questions on the test is whether or not they have family members that are involved in activities in China.

“It is ironic that Su Chi is the top security official and yet his wife and younger brother have both visited or taken a job in China,” Huang said.

Asked for comment, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) also criticized Su Yung-chin.

“It is alright for an ordinary person to teach in China, but it is improper for Su Yung-chin to take up a job as a professor at a Chinese national university,” Chiu said.