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IN TAIPEI - THE top US military commander in Asia has confirmed for the first time a freeze on arms sales to Taiwan, citing 'palpably decreased' cross- strait tension.
The remarks by Admiral Timothy Keating came in the wake of media reports on a blanket freeze by Washington - Taipei's main arms supplier - on weapon sales to the island.
The move, which some observers have described as unprecedented, hinted at shifts in the US-China-Taiwan strategic triangle amid Beijing's growing clout and warming cross-strait ties.
Washington has previously pressured Taipei to expedite the procurement of some US$11 billion (S$15 billion) worth of weapons first offered by President George W. Bush in 2001, which included eight submarines and four Patriot PAC-3 air defence missile batteries.
The freeze would also affect Taiwan's request for 66 advanced F-16 C/D fighters, estimated to cost US$5 billion.
'There have been no significant arms sales from the United States to Taiwan in relatively recent times,' Adm Keating, commander of the Hawaii-based US Pacific Command, told a forum at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation on Wednesday.
Describing the freeze as 'administration policy', he said officials who made the decision concluded that 'there is no pressing, compelling need for, at this moment, arms sales to Taiwan'.
But he stressed that Washington remains committed to the defence of Taiwan, downplaying talk of a policy shift.
Responding to Adm Keating's remarks, Taiwan's Defence Ministry spokesman Chi Yu-lan said the island will step up communications with the US.
Another Taiwan Defence Ministry official told AFP: 'The Defence Ministry certainly is unhappy with the development, especially after the Legislative Yuan (Taiwan's Parliament) has set aside a budget for the proposed arms sales.'
Mr Randall Schriver, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs in the Bush administration, said the freeze sets a dangerous precedent in US-Taiwan ties.
'Putting everything on hold at this point, after everything has passed is unprecedented,' he said at a briefing for foreign journalists in Taipei.
Speculation on such a freeze first emerged in the run-up to the reopening of formal cross-strait talks last month.
Washington was also reportedly hesitant about irking China ahead of the Beijing Olympics. With Washington eager to secure Beijing's cooperation on a range of issues, such as North Korea's nuclear disarmament, speculation is rife that the freeze could extend through the remainder of the Taiwan-friendly Bush administration.
Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou acknowledged recently that different opinions in Washington were delaying arms sales to the island, creating a 'difficult situation' for Taipei.
Professor Lin Chong-pin of Tamkang University, who was formerly Taiwan's vice-defence minister, told The Straits Times that with the rapid modernisation of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), 'Taiwan's last remaining edge in air supremacy would be gone if the F-16s are not coming'.
He added that, ironically, with the warming cross-strait ties, 'there is real concern in Washington that advanced US weapons may end up in the PLA arsenal if Taiwan and China reunify'.
hwee@sph.com.sg
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