Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) Taiwan has been maintaining non-partisan contact in the United States Congress and believes it can sustain support for arms sales to Taiwan, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said Thursday following the Republican Party's gains in the U.S. midterm elections.
"The U.S. Congress has always been supportive of arms sales to Taiwan. We have been in close contact with Congressmen from both the Republican and Democratic parties, and we don't think the support (for arms sales) will just go away, " said Bruce J.D. Linghu, director-general of Department of North American Affairs, in a regular briefing.
In response to a reporter's question about whether a Republican victory will help Taiwan gain more support for arms sales in Congress, Linghu said that congressional support actually came from both parties.
Despite indications that the two sides had different priorities regarding items on list of arms for sale to Taiwan, he said that sales of "several items" on the list was "just a matter of time." Later he declined to specify whether his remarks had referred to F-16 C/D fighter jets.
Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu said Monday that the U.S. remains undecided over whether or not to sell F-16 C/D fighters to Taiwan.
In related news, MOFA announced that seven members of the U.S. House of Representatives are scheduled to visit Taiwan for the first time during the next 10 days in three separate visits.
Elton Gallegly (R-CA), who currently serves as ranking member of the Subcommittee on Europe of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, will visit Taiwan from Nov. 5-11.
Gregg Harper (R-MS) , Leonard Lance (R-NJ) , Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) and G.T. Thompson (R-PA) are scheduled to visit Taiwan from Nov. 7-13.
Hank Johnson (D-GA) , chairman of Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy under the Committee on the Judiciary, and Jim McDermott (D-WA), chairman of Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support under the Committee on Ways and Means, will visit Taiwan from Nov. 8-12, the MOFA said. (By Chris Wang) enditem/MH