Monday, January 16, 2006

EX-AIT HEAD OFFERS OPINIONS ON TAIWAN DEFENSE

Taipei, Jan. 15 (CNA) The approach Taiwan should take in defending itself is "to have a respectable deterrence" that makes its enemy "think twice" before launching military action, a former top U.S. liaison officer with Taiwan said over the weekend.

Therese Shaheen, a former chairwoman of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) , made the suggestion in an interview with CNA prior to her departure for home Saturday after a four-day visit to Taipei.

Shaheen said Taiwan needs to improve its military communication systems with the U.S. so that the United States can react more efficiently in case it decides to rush in aid to Taiwan.

"The idea [of defending Taiwan] is to have a respectable deterrence, " Shaheen said, so as "...to make the enemy say: We have to think twice. Maybe the people we're attacking are able to defend themselves until their friends arrive."

Shaheen, who resigned from her post as AIT chairwoman in April 2004, met President Chen Shui-bian, Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng and former President Lee Teng-hui during her four-day visit here. She made the remarks against the background as opposition lawmakers are still at loggerheads with the ruling party on a costly purchase package of U.S. weaponry systems.

Shaheen believed that as far as Beijing goes, "coercion will be the most likely mean [of China's first attempt], " as the ancient Chinese wise man would suggest, the best way is to "Subdue your enemy without firing a shot."

She acknowledged that a debate on how best Taiwan can defend itself is going on in the U.S., as an article of Christian Science Monitor last week reported that U.S. Pacific Commander William Fallon, for one, has questioned whether a package of sophisticated arms is what best serves Taiwan.

A lot of recommendations were made by the U.S. Department of Defense on the arms procurement list, she said. But U.S. government will always respect "Taiwan's list" of arms procurement, and her job during the tenure in the AIT was to help facilitate discussion on such issues between Taiwan and the U.S., Shaheen noted.