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US senator ups ante
on stalled F-16 sale
PARADIGM CHANGE? The president of the US-Taiwan
Business Council said that Taiwan should ‘submit a new LOR immediately’ to take
advantage of the situation
By J. Michael Cole / Staff Reporter
US Republican Senator John Cornyn,
left, and Republican Senator Rand Paul walk to the US Senate floor where Paul
attempted to block a vote on the Patriot Act in Washington on May 26.
Photo: EPA
In a surprising turn of events over US
arms sales to Taiwan, a US senator said he would use his powers to block a full
Senate vote on the appointment of a new deputy secretary of state until
Washington approves the sale of F-16C/D aircraft requested by Taipei.
US Senator for Texas John Cornyn, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said
the US Department of State must inform Taipei that it would act on a formal
Letter of Request (LOR) from the Taiwanese government to purchase 66 new
F-16C/Ds. Should Washington fail to do so, Cornyn said he would use his powers
to block a full Senate vote on the nomination of William Burns, currently US
undersecretary of state for political affairs, as deputy secretary of state, the
Washington Times reported on Wednesday, citing information from Senate aides.
Cornyn’s threatened hold also applies to the release by the Pentagon of a
long-delayed report to Congress on the balance of air power in the Taiwan
Strait.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved Burns’ appointment during a
meeting on Thursday. Also approved were the nominations of US Secretary of
Commerce Gary Locke as ambassador to China and Ryan Crocker as ambassador to
Afghanistan. A full Senate vote is now required before the appointments can be
confirmed.
To date, Taiwan has submitted three LORs to the US on the F-16C/Ds. All three
were made by the administration of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). The
administrations of former US president George W. Bush and US President Barack
Obama have refused to accept the letters, reportedly over concerns about
possible negative repercussions on US-China relations.
Asked for comment about Cornyn’s gambit, president of the US-Taiwan Business
Council Rupert Hammond-Chambers was upbeat about the significance of the move.
“Finally we’re seeing real ways by the Congress to provide real leverage on the
government to act on the F-16s,” he told the Taipei Times yesterday, adding that
this would force the Obama administration to respond.
As to how long Cornyn could force a hold on the vote, Hammond-Chambers said it
was hard to tell and that to give a timeline would telegraph to the US State
Department how long it needed to wait things out.
“Taiwan should submit a new LOR immediately,” he said.
For his part, former Taiwanese representative to Washington Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said
the development meant that the Obama administration would find itself under
pressure to make a decision.
“This will come from various corners, including the US Congress, the policy
community, Taipei and the media ... especially after statements [by
Hammond-Chambers during testimony at the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs
on June 16] that the US administration has declined to receive the LORs,” Wu
said.
This also puts pressure on the Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration to submit a new
LOR as soon as possible, he said.
Wu nevertheless said that other factors could continue to delay a response by
the Obama administration.
“If something is going to happen, I’d say timing will be an important factor.
This applies to the elections in Taiwan,” he said. “The presidential election in
the US also needs to be considered.”
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