Addressing the 2009 U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference held in Virginia, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs Wallace Gregson said Washington believes that promoting a strong Taiwan will help ensure that Taiwan is able to make choices that benefit both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Also, a strong Taiwan will be less susceptible to coercion or intimidation and better able to engage China with confidence, as well as being free to expand cross-strait economic, cultural and political ties without fear or reservation, Gregson said.

“And therefore, everyone in the region -- including the People's Republic of China -- should view a strong Taiwan not as a threat but as a stabilizing factor in cross-strait affairs, regional security and economic development,” Gregson said.

He noted that U.S.-Taiwan relations are based not only on Washington's one China policy, the Taiwan Relations Act and the three joint U.S.-China communiques, but also on deep and abiding friendship, shared security interests, deep economic ties and common democratic ideals and values.

“The Obama administration is firmly committed to supporting and executing these commitments,” he said.

He said the United States welcomes President Ma Ying-jeou's initiatives over the past year to reduce tension in the Taiwan Strait and encourages Taipei and Beijing to consider opening dialogue on military affairs “at the appropriate time and in a mutually agreed manner.”

According to Gregson, owing to China's rapid economic growth and military modernization, Taiwan will never again have the luxury of relying on quantitative advantages over China and must look to its qualitative advantages through focusing on “innovation and asymmetry.”

Taiwan must focus on building a talented and educated corps of junior officers and non commissioned officers when transitioning to an all-volunteer military force, because this is one of the most obvious areas upon which a focus on quality over quantity will pay dividends for Taiwan's defense capabilities, he said.

He also stressed that a defense strategy is most effectively implemented when a country is equipped with “the right tools.”

Gregson said that although he did not plan to discuss what the Obama administration considers to be “the right tools” for Taiwan, he assured his audience that “this administration will not waver in its commitment to provide those defense articles and services necessary for Taiwan's self-defense.”

The Sept. 27-29 conference is the eighth annual event addressing the future of U.S. defense cooperation with Taiwan, the defense procurement process, and Taiwan's defense and national security needs.

Also attending the conference is Republic of China Deputy Minister of National Defense Chao Shih-chang.

Asked by reporters if the Obama administration's arms sales policy toward Taiwan is being increasingly contained by Beijing, Chao said he does not think this is the case.

Asked whether the chances of the U.S. selling F-16C/D fighters to Taiwan are slim, Chao also said he did not think so.

Tan Chih-lung, director-general of the Defense Mission of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, pointed out that many people in Taiwan see U.S. willingness to sell the aircraft to Taiwan as an indicationof whether Taiwan U.S. relations have improved.

Realizingthat the diplomaticpolicies adopted by former President Chen Shui-bian damaged the mutual trust between Taiwan and the United States, Ma has been seeking to rebuild Taiwan-U.S. mutual trust since his inauguration in May 2008, Tan said.

According to Tan, Taiwan has conveyed its strong desire to purchase the F 16C/D fighters but understands that Washington cannot make a decision on the matter immediately because of the many considerations involved.

While Taiwan can keep waiting, it must make the United States realize that the delay will undermine Taiwan's military power, which is not a development that Washington would like to see, he said.