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Texas Republicans want sovereignty of Taiwan affirmed
By William Lowther / Staff reporter in WASHINGTON
The Republican Party of Texas is calling for full diplomatic recognition of Taiwan “as an independent and sovereign nation.”
The party’s Platform Resolution Committee earlier this month unanimously passed the Taiwan resolution and it has now been adopted as part of this year’s Texas Republican Party manifesto.
It will eventually be considered by the party at a national level and while it has little chance of being adopted as the policy for a future Republican president, it reflects the party’s sympathies and support for Taiwan.
“We urge Congress to work with the Taiwanese government to preserve and enhance the human rights of all people,” the resolution says.
Party insiders said that the human rights wording was a direct reference to the case of former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) continued incarceration on a corruption conviction despite his dire medical condition. There is a lot of support in Texas for Chen’s release on medical parole.
Texas Senator John Cornyn, a Republican, has led the fight in Washington to sell new F-16 C/D jets to Taiwan, but has been unable to convince US President Barack Obama’s administration.
The F-16 is built by Lockheed Martin and most of the manufacturing and assembly takes place in Texas. A sale of up to 66 F-16s to Taiwan could mean thousands of jobs for Texas.
“In the face of China’s aggressive military modernization and the belligerent attitude towards Taiwan, these F-16 fighters have become increasingly important and also highly symbolic for Taiwan,” Cornyn said in a statement last year.
“I have been disappointed that Taiwan seems to have backed off of its pursuit for new F-16s, especially after so many of its friends in Congress went out on a limb to help them,” he added. “When it comes to Taiwan’s military capabilities, there seems to be a puzzling sense of complacency in Taipei. Taiwan needs to wake up and realize that, as the threat from China grows, so grows Taiwan’s vulnerability.”
source: Taipei Times
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