U.S. military commander confirms, justifies freeze on arms for Taiwan

TAIPEI, July 18 (Kyodo) - A top U.S. military commander has confirmed for the first time that Washington has slapped a blanket freeze on pending arms deals to Taipei, saying there is no urgent need for the weapons sales to proceed, despite Beijing's rapid
military modernization.

Asked at a Heritage Foundation-hosted conference in Washington on Wednesday if he knew of ''a temporary freeze that's been put on U.S. arms sales to Taiwan,'' Adm. Timothy Keating, who commands the U.S. Pacific Command, said, ''Yes. I am aware.''

''The folks who have made these decisions have reconciled Taiwan's current military posture, China's current military posture and strategy that indicates there is no pressing, compelling need for, at this moment, arms sales to Taiwan of the systems that we're talking about,'' he added.

The public admission was a first from a senior U.S. official after reports surfaced last month of the freeze on US$11 billion worth of military hardware.

The freeze calls into question the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait, one of Asia's historical flashpoints. Central those tensions is China's threat to attack Taiwan if the self-ruled island tries to formalize its de facto independence.

Taiwan relies heavily on U.S. arms and training and regards the United States, which is legally obligated to help the island defend itself, as its chief security guarantor.

Keating said warming Taipei-Beijing ties make a Chinese attack on Taiwan unlikely. In any case, he said, the freeze does not lessen Washington's commitment to Taiwan's defense.

If China were to attack the self-ruled island, he said, ''I want them (China) to know they're going to lose.''

Included in the freeze are pending deals, offered by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush since 2001 and approved by Taiwan's parliament, for some 30 AH-64 Apache helicopters, 60 UH Black Hawk helicopters, PAC-III missile
batteries and conventional attack submarine designs, among other arms packages.

Washington is also allegedly stalling on Taipei's request for
price-and-availability data for 66 F-16C/D fighter jets. Taipei needs such data to kick-start the procurement process for the fighters, which Taiwanese military officials insist are needed to replace aging military aircraft.

Since 1988, Taiwan has lost some 17 workhorse F-5 fighter jets in crashes blamed on hardware age and stress.

On Wednesday, a Taiwanese AH-1 ''Cobra'' attack helicopter lost control and slammed into an apartment bloc in northern Taiwan while on maneuvers, killing both pilots. Taiwan military spokeswoman Col. Lisa Chi said the helicopter was at least 15 years-old.

''Every day that these systems are delayed is an extra day of acute security concerns for Taiwan,'' said Mark Stokes, a former country director for China and Taiwan at the Pentagon who currently directs Project 2049, a think tank focusing on Asian security issues. ''This is also an issue of life,'' he said, referring to the Cobra crash. ''These systems are aging.''

For Randall Schriver, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs in the Bush administration, the freeze sets a dangerous new precedent in U.S.-Taiwan ties, which he described as ''fairly dysfunctional.''

''Putting everything on hold at this point, after everything has passed, is unprecedented,'' he said, referring to the pending deals.

Schriver is currently a senior associate at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

According to a Washington Post report last month, the freeze was requested by Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou's administration to pave the way for warming ties with rival China, but Schriver blamed the Bush administration.

''The Ma administration has said officially and in private that they didn't request the freeze,'' he said. ''My understanding is that there has been consensus for (the freeze) among Cabinet-level principals (in the Bush administration).''

''It certainly appears that the Bush administration has unilaterally decided not to go forward on the arms deals.''