[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7126-S7130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
REPORT ON FOREIGN TRAVEL
Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, It has been my custom to make a report to
the Congress, my constituents, and the general public when I return
from a trip. I have sought recognition to speak about foreign travel I
made to Beijing, Hanoi and Taipei from August 6, 2010, to August 16,
2010.
We departed Dulles International Airport on United Airlines on Friday
morning, August 6 en route to Beijing, China. This was my sixth visit
to China, with the most recent taking place in 2006.
On Sunday, August 8, we had a meeting with Mr. William Farris,
Managing Counsel for Google. Mr. Farris had previously served as
general counsel for the Congressional-Executive Commission on China,
which was created by congressional statute in 2001 to oversee human
rights and the rule of law. Especially with his background in these
critical issues, Mr. Farris offered his views on the potential for
unfettered access to the internet in China, the recent cyber attack
against Google, and an overview of the Chinese business environment.
Although Google initially censored its search engine in China, I was
pleased that it has decided to offer a reroute through Hong Kong
servers in order to provide uncensored access. China continues to put
pressure on international firms over the nature of content produced.
The Chinese government maintains a block on many U.S. Websites,
including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. The pressure that the Chinese
government places on firms has already led to the departure of major
foreign ventures. Go Daddy, a leading U.S. Web site registration firm,
has recently left the Chinese market. Increasing freedom will
facilitate economic growth and attract investment.
In my fiscal year 2011 appropriations request letter to the State and
Foreign Operations Subcommittee on the Senate Appropriations Committee,
I urged the provision $50 million from the democracy fund to promote
widespread, secure Internet use by individuals residing in countries
with Internet monitoring, censorship, and control. This is a low-cost
method of allowing people, especially those living under repressive
regimes, to access all-source, unfiltered information. This capability
enables freedom of thought, expression, and the unimpeded flow of ideas
and information. One group, the Global Internet Freedom Consortium--an
alliance of several organizations specializing in anti-censorship
technologies--has submitted several important proposals. This group has
been particularly effective in China, neutralizing the Chinese
government's ``Golden Shield'' and ``Green Dam'' barriers.
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As I wrote in my July 7, 2009, op-ed in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
The United States must fight fire with fire in finding ways
to breach these cyberwalls, which dictatorships use to
control their people and keep themselves in power. Tearing
down these walls can match the effect of what happened when
the Berlin Wall was torn down. No one understands this better
than the dictator states.
The Internet has proven to be one of the most powerful tools for
cultivating nascent democracies. American companies who have abetted
repressive regimes by censoring information should reexamine their
relationships and ways of doing businesses.
That afternoon, we met with Ambassador Jon F. Huntsman Jr. and his
wife, Mrs. Mary Kaye Huntsman, at the Ambassador's residence. I have
known Ambassador Huntsman since his days as Deputy U.S. Trade
Representative in the George W. Bush administration as well as the
Governor of Utah. Ambassador Huntsman, fluent in Mandarin, brought
unique skills to this post, gleaned from studying China for much of his
life, serving as a missionary in the Republic of China, and extensive
business experience. We discussed different dynamics of the U.S.-China
relationship, including international trade, regional security, and
human rights.
On Monday, August 9, we began the day with a country team briefing
from the U.S. Embassy in China. The briefing was led by Robert
Goldberg, the Deputy Chief of Mission, and included Christopher Adams,
Minister Counselor for Trade Affairs at the Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative, Aubrey Carlson, Political Minister Counselor, MaryKay
Carlson, Acting Consul General, David Dollar, U.S. Treasury Economic
and Financial Emissary to China, Robert Forden, Acting Economic
Minister Counselor, Bradley Gehrke, Defense Attache, Randal Phillips,
Minister Counselor for Plans and Programs, and William Zarit, Minister
Counselor for Commercial Affairs from the Department of Commerce.
Following the Country Team Briefing, I met John Klena, Julie Schneider,
Andriana Wiegand, Sanford Dawson, Frank Joseph, Msg. Simon Price, Msg.
Michael Fernald, Msg. Kenneth Hayles, and Megan Kellogg, fellow
Pennsylvanians who admirably serve the U.S. through our Embassy in
Beijing.
Although the U.S. has many shared interests with China, it is
important that we do not shy away from issues of potential conflict. I
pushed for the need to gain leverage in our relationship with the
Chinese in order to get them to change their behavior. I posed the
question whether congressional action on trade issues and other
disagreements with China would be helpful in pursuing U.S. policy aims.
The country team indicated that congressional engagement helps China
understand different stakeholders in the U.S. system. One other way to
engage the Chinese is to coordinate with other countries and the
business community to apply unified pressure against China on specific
trade issues.
An area of concern is China's commitment to reducing the
proliferation of nuclear weapons, especially with regard to Iran and
North Korea. Although China initially resisted a new round of sanctions
against Iran this year, China seems to have been compliant with United
Nations Security Council resolutions. China has significant energy and
banking investments in Iran, and is reluctant to undermine its own
interests. Iran has a history of using deceptive financial practices to
circumvent U.N. sanctions, and it is important that all nations block
banking relations with Iranian financial institutions if those
transactions could facilitate Iranian nuclear proliferation. I made the
point that an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear weapons facilities
could harm China's energy supply, and that China might not have
considered the impact of such an armed conflict on their bilateral
relationship with Iran.
China is North Korea's most significant economic partner and
continues to provide North Korea with food aid. In 2009, trade between
China and North Korea surpassed $2.7 billion. In 2009, North Korean
exports to China rose by 4.3 percent to $793 million. China needs to be
more willing to collaborate with the U.S. and international partners on
urging North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program and
destabilizing rhetoric. According to the U.S. Mission, engagement with
North Korea is the best bilateral working relationship we have with
China.
A recurring issue during my visit to the region was territorial
disputes in Southeast Asia. One especially problematic area is the
South China Sea, which stretches from Singapore and the Strait of
Malacca to the Strait of Taiwan. This waterway includes over 200 small
islands, the majority of which are uninhabitable but rich in such
natural resources as oil and natural gas. Although projections for
energy reserves in the South China Sea vary, a 1994 U.S. Geological
Survey approximated that there were 28 billion barrels of oil. Because
there has not been any exploratory drilling in the area, estimates for
energy reserves in two of the particularly resource-rich island chains,
the Spratly Islands and Paracel Islands, are unknown. According to the
Energy Information Administration at the Department of Energy, oil
consumption in Asia is estimated to rise by over 2.7 percent per year
to nearly 29.8 million barrels per day in 2030. Given the strategic
importance of the South China Sea, many of its proximate nations have
competing claims for territory. Although the 1982 United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea has not determined specific
territorial delineations, it has offered guidelines for the resolution
of competing claims through negotiation between nations.
China submitted a map to the United Nations Security Council that
depicted China's claim to over 80 percent of the South China Sea. The
map includes a U-shaped line, connected by ``9 dots,'' granting China
access to portions of the shores of Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia,
Brunei and the Philippines. This year, China began referring to this
disputed waterway as a ``core national interest,'' similar language
used to describe Tibet and Taiwan. China currently occupies several of
the Spratly Islands. Vietnam has also claimed the Spratly Islands,
occupying a small portion of the chain, as well as the Paracel Islands,
despite ceding the latter to China after being forcibly removed by the
Chinese military in 1974. China claims a wide-ranging exclusive
economic zone, EEZ, an area of a sea zone for which a nation owns
rights for use of marine resources including fishing and subterranean
energy stores, in the South China Sea, despite the fact that Brunei,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam all have proximate
coastal areas and competing claims for sovereignty. An EEZ, as
described in the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, is permitted
for certain waterways given their proximity to the coast of a country
and other geographic factors.
The South China Sea is host to over one-third of global maritime
commerce, as well as more than 50 percent of Northeast Asia's energy
supplies. U.S. forces also use the South China Sea to support the war
in Afghanistan. China's naval aggression is troubling. China has
developed its naval power to an unprecedented extent in recent years.
Not only has China provoked U.S. military and aircraft in the South
China Sea, but its defense budget has grown by 10 percent per decade,
only slowing to 7.5 percent in 2010. China's naval modernization began
in the 1990s, integrating such components as anti-ship ballistic
missiles, submarines, new weapons acquisition, and surface ships into
their forces. China has been known to use the force of its navy to
resolve disputes, in opposition to U.N. treatises and internationally
accepted norms.
Increased Chinese aggression is also evident in the Yellow Sea. In
the wake of a March 26, 2010, North Korean sinking of a South Korean
ship, killing 46 sailors, the U.S. and South Korea announced, on July
6, 2010, plans to hold war games. In a July 8, 2010, press report,
China came out against any foreign warships or planes participating in
military activities in the Yellow Sea or adjacent areas and ultimately
hosted its own war games on the same day that the U.S. and South Korea
did. The Chinese military conducted a drill of unmanned drone aircraft
in coastal areas to test radar and electromagnetic interference. The
Yellow Sea is international waters--all nations should have access.
Another contentious issue is the manufacturing of counterfeit
products. In 2009, China was the source of 79 percent of the total
value of all counterfeit products seized by U.S. Customs,
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totaling over $260 million. Chinese products also accounted for over 90
percent of all intellectual property rights-related seizures. The
Business Software Alliance, an information technology industry group,
has projected that 80 percent of software used in China has been
pirated in violation of international copyright infringement laws, an
improvement from 90 percent in 2004. As a growing power, China should
make a greater effort to abide by international conventions and respect
intellectual property rights. In fact, China stands to greatly benefit
from fostering a business environment that protects innovation. A 10-
percent drop in pirated software since 2004 corresponded to the
addition of 220,000 jobs in China's legitimate information technology
sector. Additionally, companies such as Apple, could be more willing to
introduce new ventures to Chinese markets with assurances that their
products would be protected. Because Chinese companies preemptively
registered both the iPad trademark and design patent, Apple has delayed
market entry of the iPad in China.
We departed the Embassy for a meeting with the Governor of the
People's Bank of China, Zhou Xiaochuan. Many of the economic issues in
the relationship between the U.S. and China have persisted for years.
Although Chinese officials have met with Secretary Geithner and former
Secretaries of the Treasury, the U.S. should continue to develop a
frank dialogue with the Chinese. The U.S. Embassy counts 49 formal
dialogues with the Chinese regarding financial and economic
cooperation, although the Chinese count 60. At the meeting, I pressed
the issue of China's currency manipulation. Governor Zhou mentioned
that the Chinese economy is transitioning, noting that workers' wages
have increased by 20 percent and that China is allowing for increased
private sector growth. Although the Chinese economy grew at 7.7 percent
in 2009, Governor Zhou expected China's export growth rate to slow over
the next 3 to 5 years. I objected that 5 years would be too long to
wait as the U.S. is losing jobs, especially in industries such as steel
and rubber. I argued that Congress is contemplating legislating on the
currency issue to rectify imbalances. Governor Zhou discussed how
economic uncertainty has made the Chinese government more careful about
economic policy changes and that China has economic challenges of its
own, including a 10-percent unemployment rate. I retorted that the U.S.
unemployment rate is currently at 9.6 percent.
I informed Governor Zhou about how Chinese subsidies and dumping are
unfairly harming the steel and tire industries. According to the most
recent data issued by the Foreign Trade Division of the U.S. Census,
the annual trade deficit with China stands at $93.3 million as of May
2010. Employment in American manufacturing has plummeted at the same
time that Chinese imports and U.S. trade deficits have set records. The
trade deficit with China is the largest imbalance ever recorded between
two countries, in part because of China's deliberate undervaluing of
its currency. I brought up two cases I recently argued before the
International Trade Commission, ITC, for which the ITC found that
Chinese tire imports had disrupted the U.S. tire industry. In December
of 2009, I urged the ITC to charge China with dumping of tubular steel
and to impose sanctions. I argued that the lost jobs, reduced hours,
and plant shutdowns constituted a ``severe and intolerable harm.'' By
the spring of 2009, 6 of 11 high grade tubular steel plants in the
country, including mills in Koppel and Ambridge, PA, were idle as a
result of Chinese imports. While the Koppel and Ambridge plants are
back operating at minimum capacity, overall industry operating capacity
dropped from 68.5 percent in 2006 to 17.6 percent in 2009. During the
same period, China's market share of high grade tubular steel rose from
15 to 37 percent. The ITC determined that the steel industry was
materially injured or threatened with material injury, and the Commerce
Department issued an AD duty order on imports ranging from 29.94 to
99.14 percent.
I emphasized to Governor Zhou that it is unacceptable for China to
continue to dump goods on the American economy. He mentioned that China
understands the pressure on the Pennsylvania industries. He said that
certain shifts are inevitable and suggested that the U.S. seek
settlement from the World Trade Organization, WTO. The U.S. has filed
eight cases at the WTO for trade violations. We settled four cases and
won four of them. I pressed that the WTO takes too long and that the
damage from unfair trade practices is done before there is time for a
resolution.
Following our meeting with the People's Bank of China, we departed
for a meeting with Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Chao. We discussed
the benefit of enhancing the U.S.-China relationship by targeting areas
of mutual interest. I argued that the current trade relationship
between the U.S. and China has an unfair impact on the U.S. steel and
rubber industries. I also pressed the issue of ITC violations and
Chinese subsidizing and dumping goods. The U.S. is the largest export
destination of China, and China is the third largest export destination
for the U.S. There are 58,000 U.S. companies present in China. I told
the Minister that both China and the U.S. should review subsidies in a
manner where everything is placed on the table.
Our last meeting in Beijing was at Tsinghua University, host of the
Temple University Rule of Law Program in China. On this visit, I met
with Wang Zhenmin, dean of the Law School and John Smagula, director of
Asian Programs at Temple University Beasley School of Law. Since 1999,
Temple has educated 1,024 legal professionals. Seventy-nine percent of
these participants have been from the public sector, including 370
judges, 151 prosecutors, 88 government officials, 152 law professors,
and 47 Non-Governmental Organization legal staff.
On this visit, I addressed students in the master's in law program.
The students included: Judges Jiang Minsong, Su Tuan, Wang Didi, Wang
Xiaoqin, Wei Xigui, Xie Aimei, Yang Lingping, and Zhou Junsheng;
Prosecutors Feng Guanhua, Lin Bowen, Lu Xiaomei, Tang Shengjia, and
Yang Li; Chinese Officials Li Sheng, Ma Ning, Pang Lei, Xiang Hang, and
Yang Kefei; Law Professors Abulimiti Ameina, Lu Yao, and Zheng Yanpu;
and from the private sector, Dimitrova Deniza, Fan Ping, Guo Qiushi,
Kuang Lu, Lang Zhuo, Tan Jiacai, Wang Hong, Wang Xin, Xu Changrong,
Zhang Hairong, Zhang Xianzhong, Zhang Yitong, and Zhu Wenting. The
group asked me numerous questions on topics ranging from Justice Kagan,
my battles with cancer, my legislation that would televise Supreme
Court deliberations, and health care reform. The students were eager to
discuss the benefits of the Temple University Program in China and how
the school continues to play an important role in bridging U.S.-Chinese
relations and cultivating the development of law.
This trip to China was especially meaningful for me because my last
visit in August 2006 was on a CODEL led by my friend, the late Senator
Ted Stevens. The Nation has lost an icon of statesmanship and a
stalwart public servant. Senator Stevens was an exemplary leader in the
U.S. Senate, a champion for military and defense issues, a proud
veteran, and friend of mine. His work on behalf of all Alaskans was
unparalleled in the U.S. Senate, and his passion for this country will
be forever remembered. Joan and I are deeply saddened by this news and
offer our most sincere condolences to Catherine and the Stevens family.
I want to note that Senator Stevens was awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross for flying support missions for the 14th Air Force, also
known as the Flying Tigers, during World War II. The Flying Tigers, the
First American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force, were organized
before the U.S. officially entered World War II, designed to fight
against Japanese forces. In 1942, the division was officially inducted
into the U.S. Air Force.
On Tuesday, August 10, we departed Beijing on Vietnam Airlines for
Hanoi, Vietnam. This was my second visit to Vietnam. We were met at the
airport by Ambassador Michael Michalak and Control Officer Michael
Goldman.
On Wednesday, August 11, we departed for the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi
to receive a country team briefing. This briefing, led by Ambassador
Michalak, was staffed by Mike Goldman, Acting Political Counselor,
Patrick Reardon, Defense Attache, Justin Taylor, from the Foreign
Agricultural Service, Michael Foster, Acting USAID Country Director,
Eric Frater, the Environment, Science, Technology, and Health Officer,
Yashue Pai, from the
[[Page S7129]]
Foreign Commercial Service, Vivian Chao, PEPFAR Country Director, Lloyd
Neighbors, Public Affairs Officer, Bruce Struminger, Center for Disease
Control Country Director, Jessica Webster, Economic Counselor, and
Robert Frazier, Management Counselor and Acting Deputy Chief of
Mission. I also appreciate the efforts of Nicole Johnson, Michael
Orona, Tim Liston, and Matt Mathews.
At the briefing, we discussed the need to promote education in
Vietnam, address climate change in a global way, and deepen trust
between the U.S. and Vietnam. Military exchanges could assist the
latter aim. The U.S. Embassy is actively involved in locating and
returning the remains of U.S. soldiers who were missing in action
during the Vietnam war, as well as managing funding appropriated by
Congress to clean up Agent Orange. The continued presence of Agent
Orange in Vietnam continues to present grave health threats to the
Vietnamese. The Vietnamese government requested that the U.S. focus its
remediation efforts on Da Nang Airport. USAID has estimated that at
least $24 million is needed to complete this remediation project. I
have supported U.S. funding for remediation of dioxin contaminants, one
of the harmful components of Agent Orange, including $15 million in
fiscal year 2010 funding. The fiscal year 2010 amount was $3 million
higher than the fiscal year 2009 amount.
The U.S. currently contributes over $154 million a year in total aid
to Vietnam, with $102 million allocated to the health sector--largely
for the President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, and avian
influenza. HIV/AIDS continues to pose a serious threat to the
Vietnamese. In the 111th Congress, I voted to appropriate $48 billion
for international HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria programs through
fiscal year 2013, including $30 billion for PEPFAR. In my fiscal year
2011 appropriations request letter to the State and Foreign Operations
Subcommittee on the Senate Appropriations Committee, I asked for $1.75
billion for the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria
worldwide.
Another issue in Vietnam is the continued presence of unexploded
ordinance. Since the end of the Vietnam war in 1974, more than 40,000
Vietnamese have been killed from contact with unexploded ordinance and
another 64,000 people have been injured. According to Vietnam's
Ministry of Defense, over 16 million acres of Vietnam are still
contaminated by 350,000 to 800,000 tons of unexploded ordinance, with
over 3 million landmines in addition to unexploded bombs. From 2000 to
2009, Vietnam has received more than $37 million in U.S. assistance for
de-mining, mine risk education, survivors' assistance, and landmine
impact studies. At the current pace of clearance, it will take 300
years and more than $10 billion to clear Vietnam of leftover unexploded
ordinance.
This year, the U.S. and Vietnam celebrate the 15th anniversary of
diplomatic relations. Fifteen years ago, bilateral trade was $451
million annually, an amount dwarfed by the $15.4 billion traded in
2009. The U.S. and Vietnam have come very far in overcoming historical
animosities, exemplified through joint military exercises held on
August 11, 2010. Vietnam currently holds the rotating Chair of ASEAN
and the ASEAN Regional Forum, increasing its leadership role in the
region. Since adopting a series of economic reforms in 1986, Vietnam
has been steadily liberalizing its economy. Vietnam was admitted to the
World Trade Organization in 2007. This economic transition has led to a
steep decline in the poverty rate, which dropped from 58 percent of the
population in 1993 to below 30 percent in 2003. The partnership between
Vietnam and the U.S. continues to grow. In 2009 the U.S. imported $12.2
billion from Vietnam and exported $3 billion.
With regard to territorial disputes in the South China Sea, in
recent months, China has escalated its rhetoric, harassed Vietnamese
fishing boats, and objected to potential cooperation between Western
energy companies and the Vietnamese government to harness resources.
Using the guidelines for EEZs, Vietnam claims sovereignty over all of
the Spratly and Paracel Islands. In 2002, Vietnam, along with other
ASEAN countries, signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in
the South China Sea. The parties of this declaration agreed to settle
the territorial disputes in the South China Sea through negotiation and
the development of peaceful solutions rather than military force.
Accordingly, Vietnam resolved a dispute with Cambodia over the Gulf of
Thailand through a 2006 resource-sharing pact. In 1992, Vietnam and
Malaysia signed a Joint Development Areas agreement. In 1997, Vietnam
and Thailand signed an agreement delineating their respective sea
boundaries. Despite all of these agreements, China has not been willing
to pursue peaceful arrangements, instead relying on coercion and
bullying. Supported by the leadership of Secretary Clinton, a coalition
of Southeast Asian nations, at the recent ASEAN Regional Security
Forum, publicly challenged Chinese sovereignty over many areas of the
South China Sea, seeking a regional solution as opposed to a series of
bilateral agreements.
On August 11, we participated in a working lunch hosted by the
National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ngo Quan Xuan. We
discussed the importance of the U.S.-Vietnam economic relationship,
Agent Orange remediation, as well as the prospect of Chinese regional
hegemony. The Chairman also mentioned that there are 13,000 Vietnamese
students studying in the U.S.--this student exchange is particularly
important given the need for trained doctors and lawyers in Vietnam and
for fostering ties between the U.S. and Vietnam among the next
generation of leaders. I explained to him how a lack of progress on
human rights threatens progress of many areas of the U.S.-Vietnam
relationship, including arms sales.
The next day, we met with Duong Trung Quoc, a member of the
Vietnamese Assembly. He is one of the few non-Communist members in the
Assembly and shared his views on prospects for liberalizing Vietnam and
the future of the Vietnamese political and economic systems. He is a
historian and journalist by trade. We spoke at great length about the
history of Vietnam and how historical interactions have shaped current
regional tensions and security concerns.
On Friday, August 13, we departed Hanoi for Taipei, Taiwan on China
Airways. This was my fourth visit to Taiwan, with the most recent one
taking place in 2001.
After being received at the airport by officials from the Taiwanese
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the American Institute in Taiwan, we
were escorted to a meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou. President Ma
was born in Hong Kong and received his undergraduate education from the
National Taiwan University. He then received graduate degrees from New
York University and Harvard University. President Ma served as mayor of
Taipei before being elected President in 2008.
The U.S. and the Republic of China enjoy close ties. President Ma
offered his views on North Korean aggression and China's role in the
region. I pressed him on the steel industry, tariffs in both our
countries, importing American beef to Taiwan, and ways of enhancing the
bilateral economic relationship. The U.S. exported over $18.5 billion
to Taiwan, while it imported $28.4 billion. Taiwan is currently the
11th largest export market for U.S. goods and the U.S. is currently
Taiwan's third largest trade partner. The bilateral Trade and
Investment Framework Agreement, TIFA, a process designed to enhance
economic cooperation and resolve disputes, guides U.S.-Taiwan trade
relations.
We spoke about the recent Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement,
ECFA, between Taiwan and China, signed on June 29, 2010. The EFCA was
preceded by the first direct flight between Taipei and Shanghai, which
departed on June 14, 2010, increasing the ease of travel between China
and Taiwan. The ECFA will remove tariffs on 539 Taiwanese products and
267 Chinese goods over the next 3 years. This deal permits Taiwan to
seek free trade agreements with other nations in the region, and talks
with Singapore are currently underway. Because Taiwan would struggle
economically without the Chinese market, some are wary that Taiwan is
becoming too dependent on the Chinese.
We discussed U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The Taiwanese Relations Act,
TRA, of 1979 calls for the U.S. to supply
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Taiwan with capabilities for self-defense and creates unofficial
representation in Taiwan through the American Institute in Taiwan. The
TRA names U.S. policy as being oriented towards resisting coercion of
the unofficial U.S.-Taiwan relations. Although the U.S. must provide
for the sale of arms to Taiwan, the TRA does not specify the types of
armaments, requiring only that Taiwan should be able to maintain
``sufficient'' defensive capabilities. Under the purview of the TRA,
the U.S., on August 25, 2008, announced its intent to sell 60 Harpoon
missiles, worth approximately $89.8 million, to Taiwan. On October 3,
2008, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the
possible foreign military sale of six different types of defense
articles and equipment, which could have totaled a maximum of
approximately $6.4 billion. After increasingly tense relations between
the U.S. and China, President Obama decided to defer the arms deal
until 2011. Taiwan will still be able to purchase minor parts and
upgrades.
We discussed the Taiwanese request, submitted in November 2009, to
upgrade F-16A/D fighters which were initially sold to Taiwan in 1992.
The Taiwanese request noted that the upgrades would render the fleet
parallel to the new F-16C/D fighters, reducing the need for a
substitute fleet. American contractors have estimated that this
retrofit would take approximately 6 years to complete.
On August 15, we attended a working lunch hosted by Dr. Lyushun
Shen, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. The meeting was attended by
Benny T. Hu, Chairman of CDIB BioScience Venture Management, Maj. Gen.
Mike Tsai-Mai Tien of the Republic of China Air Force Academy, Mrs.
Tien, Lawrence S. Liu, Senior Vice President of China Development
Financial Holdings, Johnson S. Chiang, Section Chief of the Department
of North American Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. Grace
Ya-hung Lin, Assistant to Deputy Minister Shen, Eric Madison, Deputy
Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Ms. Judy Kuo, Deputy
Chief from the Economic Section at the American Institute in Taiwan,
and Ms. Astrid Ai-yun Chen, Officer, Department of North American
Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On Monday, August 16, we met with Wang Jin-pyng, president of the
Legislative Yuan, before departing for Taipei International Airport. We
flew on Eva Airlines from Taipei to Newark, NJ, for 16 hours leaving on
August 16 and arriving on August 16 crossing the international date
line.
I would like to recognize Major Lance Burnett and Dan Eisenberg of
my staff for their support of this CODEL.
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