US assures Taiwan arms sales package is not frozen

Taipei - The United States has assured Taiwan it has not frozen an arms package worth 12 billion dollars after reports last month of an alleged freeze, the Central News Agency (CNA) said Wednesday. CNA, in a dispatch from Washington DC, quoted visiting Taiwan Parliament Speaker Wang Jin-pyng as saying the US government is still going through the interagency review process. Reports last month said the US had frozen sales of weapons because newly-elected President Ma Ying-jeou is shopping elsewhere in order to not jeopardize recently-warmed Taipei-Beijing ties. Wang flew to the US last week after President Ma had reasserted that arms for defence purposes are vital to Taiwan's security and improved ties with Beijing will not halt the purchase of weapons. CNA, in a separate story, said Wednesday that President George W Bush will notify China of the up-coming arms sales to Taiwan during his visit next month to attend the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremony. Quoting an unnamed source, CNA reported Bush will tell Chinese President Hu Jintao that Washington will provide Taiwan with weapons in line with the Taiwan Relations Act but is likely to delay the sale until after the Beijing Olympics. The US dropped Taiwan to recognize China in 1979 but signed the Taiwan Relations Act, pledging to continue to sell defence weapons to Taiwan. In 2004, President Bush approved an arms sales package to Taiwan that includes 66 F-16C/D fighter jets; 30 Apache Longbow attack helicopters; 60 Black Hawk helicopters; eight diesel electric submarines; and four Raytheon-manufactured Patriot Advanced Capability-3 air defence missile systems. Taiwan's parliament passed the budget for the arms purchase in 2007, but the US has been since delaying the arms sale for unspecified reasons. China, which sees Taiwan as its breakaway province, has demanded the US stop arms sales to the island saying the arms sales will embolden Taiwan to seek independence.