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US resolution calls
for freedom to navigate Strait
By William Lowther / Staff Reporter in Washington
A new resolution calling for continued operations by the US military to support
freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait has been introduced in the US House
of Representatives. It also supports freedom of navigation rights in the South
China Sea, the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea.
Sponsored by US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee, and supported by 18 Republicans and nine Democrats,
it calls for a ¡§peaceful and collaborative resolution of maritime territorial
disputes in the South China Sea and its environs and other maritime areas
adjacent to the East Asian mainland.¡¨
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The US Congress has recently criticized China¡¦s actions in the region and
rejects Beijing¡¦s insistence on the right to regulate foreign military
activities beyond its 12 nautical mile (22km) territorial limit. The resolution
acknowledges that Taiwan, China and other countries have disputed territorial
claims over the Spratly Islands («n¨F¸s®q) and the Paracel Islands (¦è¨F¸s®q).
¡§The United States has a national economic and security interest in ensuring
that no party uses force unilaterally to assert maritime territorial claims in
East Asia,¡¨ the resolution said.
¡¥NO PERMISSION NEEDED¡¦
It repeats the statement made in 2008 by former head of US Pacific Command
Admiral Timothy Keating that ¡§We [the United States] don¡¦t need China¡¦s
permission to go through the Taiwan Strait. It¡¦s international water. We will
exercise our free right of passage whenever and wherever we choose as we have
done repeatedly in the past and we¡¦ll do in the future.¡¨
The resolution condemns the use of force by naval, maritime security and fishing
vessels from China in the South China Sea and the East China Sea and says that
¡§overt threats and gun boat diplomacy¡¨ are not constructive means for settling
disputes.
PEACEMAKER
Ros-Lehtinen¡¦s resolution was introduced as Government Information Office
Minister Philip Yang (·¨¥Ã©ú) ended a week-long visit to the US during which he
addressed the Asia Society in New York, the University of Virginia and a news
conference at the National Press Club in Washington.
Yang stressed that Taiwan was a peacemaker in the region and that the US should
sell it the 66 advanced F-16C/D aircraft it is seeking. A Pentagon report
ordered by Congress last year on Taiwan¡¦s air power has still not been released,
although inside sources say that it was completed nearly six months ago.
UNRELEASED REPORT
According to the sources it is being held by the US Department of State because
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton fears it will provide powerful
ammunition for those in favor of the F-16C/D sale to Taipei. Clinton and the
White House are believed to be reluctant to approve the sale because of the
damage it will almost certainly cause to US-China relations.
US Senator John Cornyn has put a hold on the nomination of Bill Burns as US
deputy secretary of state as a form of leverage to force US President Barack
Obama¡¦s administration to release the Pentagon report and to clarify its policy
on arms sales to Taiwan.
¡§My primary concern is that the Obama administration has allowed China to
basically wield a veto over a US arms sale that is in our national security
interests, and I am troubled by the precedent this might set for the future of
US-China relations,¡¨ Cornyn said on Thursday. ¡§It is outrageous, but not
surprising, that they are blocking a trade deal that supports many high-skilled
jobs across the nation and would give our stalled economy a much-needed boost.¡¨
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