Taiwan 'cautiously optimistic' about U.S. arms sales: Minister

Taipei, May 19 (CNA) Defense Minister Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said Tuesday that Taiwan remains "cautiously optimistic" about future arms sales by the United States despite a foreign media report suggesting Washington could indefinitely delay such sales.

Speaking before a legislative session, Koo was asked to comment on a report by The New York Times following a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing last week.

The report said Trump's comparison of arms sales to Taiwan as a "very good negotiation chip" had sparked concern within Trump's administration over America's security assurances to Taiwan.

It also raised the possibility that Washington could "indefinitely withhold" an arms sales package estimated at US$14 billion.

Koo said following the Trump-Xi summit, U.S. officials have repeatedly stated that Washington's Taiwan policy remains unchanged.

According to Koo, that policy carries two key implications. First, the U.S. has long used arms sales as a means of helping maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, a framework established under the Taiwan Relations Act, with military and security cooperation between the two sides continuing over the years.

Second, maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is a core U.S. interest, and arms sales constitute an important deterrent in preserving that stability, he said.

Taiwan has consistently made clear that it is a maintainer of the cross-strait status quo rather than a provocateur, Koo said, adding that China is the party undermining regional peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Maintaining arms sales to Taiwan is therefore in the interests of the United States, Koo added.

Given Washington's repeated assurances that its Taiwan policy has not changed, Taiwan will continue communicating with U.S. counterparts while remaining "cautiously optimistic," he said.

Asked whether the government would introduce special legislation related to drones, Koo said the government would consider such legislation to fund all items the opposition parties excluded from a supplementary defense budget bill this month.

Options under review include a special bill, supplementary budget requests, or inclusion in next year's general budget, he said.

The Ministry of National Defense is currently reviewing all three possibilities and has not ruled out any of them, Koo added.

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Tuesday briefed the Legislature on five U.S. systems for which Taiwan has obtained letters of offer and acceptance, ahead of a review scheduled for Wednesday of funding for the systems.

The Executive Yuan is expected to submit the budget requests to the Legislature Wednesday ahead of an afternoon plenary session to consider the spending plans.