Taipei, May 3 (CNA) American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Taipei Office Director Stephen Young Thursday again called for the passage of an appropriate defense budget for arms procurement to help Taiwan shore up its national defenses against China's military buildup.
In his second press conference in six months, Young, who recently returned from Washington for consultations, also made clear that the U.S. has "no favorites" in Taiwan's 2008 presidential election and "will cooperate with whoever elected, like we did in 2000."
In a press conference last October, Young sent one of the strongest and clearest messages the AIT has publicly expressed in years urging Taiwan's legislature to pass the defense budget and various arms procurement packages. His statement drew criticism within Taiwan's politically polarized climate.
Young said he has spoken with leaders of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the opposition, and received promises to push for the passage of the bill.
"Yet there's been no action," he said, adding that the U.S. would speak out "humbly, respectfully and clearly" when it felt that either side of the Taiwan Strait is unilaterally changing the status quo and threatening stability in the Strait.
One of the toughest questions he had to answer, Young said, during his consultation with officials in the Pentagon, White House, State Department and Capitol Hill, was "Why hasn't Taiwan passed an appropriate defense budget which provides for funding of the defensive system President [George] Bush offered six years ago?"
The latest explanation from Taiwan centered around the controversial issue of Central Election Committee, but that still could not explain why the Legislative Yuan hasn't taken any action in moving the bill, Young said.
He went on to denounce a false local report which claimed that the U.S. government approved the use of long range offensive missiles in the Han Kwang exercise.
Quoting U.S. National Security Council senior Asian Director Dennis Wilder, Young said the U.S. does not encourage the development of offensive weapons on either side of the Strait.
Ask about the absence of any mention of the cross-strait issue in the just-concluded security dialogue between the U.S. and Japan, Young said it was not the first time that the issue was not mentioned in the meeting, but the U.S. maintains a longstanding and consistent policy on the cross-strait issue.