McCain adviser says new president will face heavy pressure to drop Taiwan weapons freeze

Randall Schriver's comments came less than a day after Admiral Timothy Keating, the top U.S. military commander in the Pacific, confirmed that the freeze was in place.

Schriver, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs in U.S. President George W. Bush's administration, told reporters that the campaigns of both McCain and presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama were trying to persuade the White House that the freeze "was an unhelpful thing."

However, he said it was likely to persist at least until Bush leaves office in January 2009 because the administration believes that removing it would anger China, seen as a key ally in addressing crucial international issues such as the neutralization of North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

China strongly objects to the U.S. selling weapons to Taiwan. The two sides split amid civil war in 1949 and Beijing still considers Taiwan to be Chinese territory. It has threatened to attack if Taiwan moves to make its de facto independence permanent.

Schriver said U.S. law obligates Washington to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself, something the new president would be hard pressed to ignore.

The Taiwan Relations Act was enacted in 1979 when the United States transferred its diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

"We do have to make systems available to Taiwan for defense," Schriver said. "I think a new administration would come under significant pressure to honor our own law."

The freeze, which Schriver called "unprecedented," covers some US$11 billion worth of arms, including Apache helicopters, spare parts for F-16 jet fighters and Patriot III anti-missile systems.

Schriver said that because of increasing Chinese clout in Washington, the new president was likely to have to pay a stiff quid pro quo to have the freeze removed.

"Undoing that freeze is going to come at a price and a cost with China," he said.

On Saturday, newly installed Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou publicly called on the U.S. to remove the freeze, the first time he has done so.

He said that despite recent progress in improving relations with China, Taiwan still needed American arms to help it defend itself against its longtime rival.

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