Legislative Yuan speaker supports President Ma's CNN remarks

Wang said the government has actively sought arms sales from the United States, a move reflecting Taiwan's strong determination to defend itself.

He added that although cross-Taiwan Strait relations have become increasingly stable, Taiwan needs to beef up its self-defense preparedness.

“Only when we are capable of defending ourselves can we be treated equally and fairly at the negotiating table with China,” he said.

In his interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour broadcast in Taiwan on April 30, Ma said that since he was sworn in on May 2008, he has made a great effort to ease tensions across the Taiwan Strait by inking 12 cooperative agreements with China.

The policy, he said, has successfully turned the Taiwan Strait from a flash point into a peaceful and prosperous area in the Asia Pacific region.

“We will continue to reduce the (cross-Taiwan Strait) risks so that we will purchase arms from the United States, but we will never ask the Americans to fight for Taiwan. This is something that is very, very clear,” Ma said.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) criticized the comment, saying that it suspects the Ma administration has forsaken Taiwan's resolve to defend itself.

Hsiao Bi-khim, director of the DPP's International Affairs Department, accused Ma Sunday of undermining national security by eliminating the vagueness Washington has deliberately maintained on how it would respond to a possible Chinese attack against Taiwan.

She claimed that Ma has caused irreversible damage to Taiwan by deliberately creating a parting of the ways with the United States, and has limited Taiwan's association with the international community by branding the country's disputes with China as bilateral rather than international issues.

DPP spokesman Tsai Chi-chang likened Ma's denial of the crucial “vagueness” in Taipei-Washington strategic relations to a political concession that he offered to Beijing.

Meanwhile, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu, who served as foreign minister before the DPP took power in 2000, defended the president's remark.

Hu said Ma's comment underlined Taiwan's dignity and determination — dignity in cross-strait relations and determination to defend itself.

“The president's remarks should not be taken out of context,” he said. “It will only harm our own interests.”

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