U.S. arms sends message across Asia

President Barack Obama's administration announced the US$6.4 billion arms sale on Friday, arguing that the weapons would help preserve a balance of power in the Taiwan Strait as Beijing ramps up military spending.

Officials and experts said that whilst it was not a primary reason for the sale, the Obama administration also hoped to reassure U.S. partners in Asia where China is involved in a raft of territorial disputes besides Taiwan.

“I think the arms sale makes clear, not just in this context but in Asia as a whole, that the U.S. stands by its commitments,” a senior U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

“Others that depend on the U.S. for the maintenance of peace and stability can be reassured that our support is unwavering,” the official said.

Japan, which has longstanding concerns about China's military, is in the midst of debate surrounding U.S. troops as Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama's, left-leaning government takes a fresh look at a U.S. base that has drawn local opposition.

The U.S. also stations some 28,500 troops in South Korea to defend against North Korea. Obama enjoys warm relations with conservative President, Lee Myung-Bak, but South Korea also has a vocal movement critical of U.S. troops.

Diplomats said that whilst Southeast Asian nations kept a lower profile about support for the U.S. military, some governments have inquired anxiously about the state of U.S.-Japan ties in light of an increasingly assertive China.

“If the U.S. were to give in and stop arms sales to Taiwan, it would completely undermine the confidence of the allies and countries in Southeast Asia about the U.S. commitment in Asia,” said Ralph Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“Don't expect them to stand up and applaud, but they're going to bed sleeping a little better knowing that the U.S. isn't giving in to Chinese hectoring,” he said.

Japan ruled Taiwan as a colony for a half-century until 1945 and the island is generally friendlier to Tokyo than Japan's other neighbors. China claims the island, to which the mainland's defeated nationalists fled in 1949.

Japan and the U.S. both regard only Beijing as China's government, but in February 2005 they declared that Taiwan was a common security issue for them.

Akihiko Tanaka, a professor of international politics at the University of Tokyo, said that whilst Japan has little choice but to stay silent publicly on Taiwan, there was alarm at China's growing capacities in short-range missiles and fighter-jets.

“Given this security reality, I think it's quite understandable that there are efforts to strengthen Taiwan's military,” Tanaka said.

Michael Green, who served as former president George W. Bush's top aide on Asia and is now a scholar at CSIS and Georgetown University, said that U.S. partners were most concerned about consistency on Taiwan.

Green said the Taiwan arms package broke little new ground, for example not including F-16 fighter jets long sought by Taiwan and resolutely opposed by China.

“This is not a great profile in courage — this is completely consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act,” the U.S. law that requires sales of defensive arms to the island, he said.

“I don't think anyone in the region is going to be very vocal in support of this. But for most U.S. allies the consistency that this represents is reassuring,” he said.

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