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US, PRC plan joint
defense task force
STRONG DENIAL: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
spokesperson Anna Kao said reports about discussions between the US and China on
arms sales to Taiwan were untrue
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporter, with CNA
US and Chinese defense officials plan to set up a joint task force to deal with
issues of mutual concern, but weapons sales to Taiwan will not be part of the
agenda, an unnamed Pentagon official said on Wednesday.
The official’s statement came after Chinese media reported that the US has given
a “positive response” to a proposal to discuss the arms sales with China.
Chinese media reports quoted Rear Admiral Guan Youfei (關友飛), who spoke to
Chinese journalists on Tuesday in Washington, where Chinese Minister of Defense
Chang Wanquan (常萬全) had met with US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel a day
earlier.
Guan reportedly said that arms sales to Taiwan would be one of three points of
discussion between the US and China under a proposed joint problem-solving
panel.
His remarks do not square with what the Pentagon official reported on Wednesday.
“I believe that the two sides, US and China, agreed to set up working groups to
discuss issues of mutual concern, but I have not heard of any specific working
group on arms sales to Taiwan being established as of now,” the defense
department official said.
The planned task force will focus on crime prevention, particularly in regard to
arms proliferation, piracy and online crime, the official said.
The issue of arms sales to Taiwan did not come up during the meeting between
Chang and Hagel, the official added.
The official also stressed that the US commitment to upholding the Taiwan
Relations Act (TRA) remains unchanged.
The TRA, the US law regulating relations with Taiwan in the absence of formal
diplomatic ties, stipulates that Washington is obligated to provide Taiwan with
arms necessary to defend itself.
The US government also issued the “six assurances” in 1982, in which it promised
not to hold prior consultation with China regarding arms sales to Taiwan.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Kao (高安) yesterday also
said the Chinese media report was “incorrect,” as the US has reaffirmed its
commitments to Taiwan.
Kao said the US has clarified that the media reports about discussions between
Chang and Hagel on US arms sales to Taiwan during the former’s recent visit to
Washington were “not true.”
Taiwan has received thorough briefings from the US government on Chang’s visit,
in line with normal practice, Kao said.
“The issue of US arms sales to Taiwan was not among the discussions [between
Chang and Hagel] on issues of mutual concern,” she said.
Later yesterday, the ministry issued a statement saying that it was “nothing
new” that Chang reportedly expressed the wish that the US would halt arms sales
to Taiwan during his meeting with Hagel.
The US has clarified that a working group would be set up between the US and
China to deal with issues related to US arms sales to Taiwan, as it said that
the mechanism has nothing to do with the matter, the ministry said.
During the briefing, the US had reaffirmed its commitment to the security of
Taiwan by promising to adhere to the TRA and the “six assurances” designed by
former US president Ronald Reagan, it said.
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