19 November 2012

News Story: US to continue arms sales to Taiwan - ex-US ambassador


A former US ambassador to China predicted Thursday in Washington that the Obama administration will continue to sell arms to Taiwan under the Xi Jinping era that has begun in China.

J. Stapleton Roy, who was the US ambassador in Beijing from 1991 to 1995 and who is currently director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States, said at a forum on US, Taiwan and China relations that he believes the US will continue arms sales to Taiwan, although he admitted that he has no knowledge of any timeline for such sales.

Despite the reduction of tension across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan still has defense needs, he said.

Roy said the US has long focused on two factors in its Taiwan policy: reducing the possibility of a military conflict between the two sides and maximizing the chances for both sides to work out their differences through peaceful means.

Read the full story at Want China Times