Taiwan needs weapons from U.S.: president

However, Ma acknowledged that different opinions in Washington were preventing arms sales to the island from going forward.

The comments were the first direct response from the president following media reports last month that the U.S. had suspended weapons sales to the island to avoid the ire of Beijing.

Among the items at issue are F-16 jet fighters, Patriot III anti-missile missiles and Apache helicopters.

In comments to reporters on the arms issue, Ma said that improving relations with China, including the start of the first weekend direct flights in almost 60 years, were no reason for Taiwan to let down its defenses against its communist rival.

“Our stance will definitely not change just because we have improved relations with the mainland,” he said.

While Washington shifted recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, the U.S. is the Taiwan’s most important foreign partner and the major source of its imported arms.

However, influential voices in the U.S. State Department are believed to favor an open-ended suspension of arms sales to Taiwan, reflecting China’s growing economic and political clout in Washington.

In his comments, Ma acknowledged the problems this was creating for Taiwan.

“It is a difficult situation for us,” he said.

Subscribe to The China Post and save 25%. Click here

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos Respond to this email