Taipei, April 28 (CNA) Taiwan has been making every effort to ensure that its relations with the United States would not be adversely affected by a recent trade dispute and a series of personnel changes in the U.S. administration, Deputy Foreign Minister Shen Lyushun said Thursday.
"We have been trying to make new friends and keep in touch with our old friends, " Shen told lawmakers in the legislature's Foreign and National Defense Committee.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has also been putting a lot of effort into minimizing the damage to U.S.-Taiwan relations caused by Taiwan's partial ban on U.S. beef imports, he said.
In January, Taipei blocked some shipments of U.S. beef after it was found that the meat contained residues of ractopamine, a leanness enhancing drug that is banned in meat products in Taiwan. The move was seen by the U.S. as a violation of a beef protocol signed with Taiwan in 2009.
In the committee meeting, lawmakers raised questions about the possible effects of the beef issue and other developments on Taiwan's engagement with the U.S. -- in particular on Taiwan's efforts to upgrade its fleet of F-16 A/B jet fighters by purchasing U.S. F-16 C/Ds.
In response, Shen admitted that Taiwan's hopes of starting a new round of negotiations with the U.S. under the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) had been hindered by the ractopamine dispute.
U.S. Trade Representative Ronald Kirk recently said that the U.S. was disappointed over the beef row with Taiwan.
Apart from the beef row, another concern is that there have been several personnel changes in the Asian-Pacific affairs division of the U.S. government since the second half of 2010, the lawmakers said.
These changes include the resignation of Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg and the reassignment of Deputy Secretary for East Asia and Pacific Affairs David Shear to the post of U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam earlier this month, the legislators noted.
They also mentioned U.S. President Barack Obama's announcement this week that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Leon Panetta had been nominated to replace outgoing Robert Gates as the Defense Secretary.
In addition, Derek Mitchell, former principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs who worked as a reporter in Taiwan in 1989, has been appointed as a special envoy to Myanmar, they said.
Another resignation was that of Wallace Gregson, former assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security affairs, in March.
The changes left Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, as the longest serving senior official dealing with Asia affairs in the Obama Administration.
Legislator Lin Yu-fang of the ruling Kuomintang raised concerns about the effects of these changes on Taiwan's arms procurement plans, while Legislator Peng Shao-chin of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party mentioned the possible impact on trade in general.
In response, Shen said his ministry has always worked hard to maintain relationships with serving and retired U.S. officials and to establish contacts on Capitol Hill.
For example, arrangements are now being made for former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry, who served during the Bill Clinton administration, to visit Taiwan, Shen said.
Regarding the beef dispute, he said Taiwan had done its best to explain the matter to the U.S. and had been trying to make sure the issue would not affect other efforts such as Taiwan's bid to join the U.S. visa-waiver program. (By Chris Wang) enditem /pc