Taiwan Says It Won't Send Troops to Iraq
By: Steve Sawyer | Source: CNSNews.com
May 25, 2004 10:18AM EST

By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com Pacific Rim Bureau Chief
May 25, 2004

Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - A proposal by two U.S. congressmen that President Bush ask the Taiwanese government to deploy thousands of marines in Iraq has triggered a political row in Taiwan, where newly re-elected President Chen Shui-bian has rejected the idea.

Chen's office issued a statement saying the issue had never been discussed between the two governments, and that he would never send Taiwanese troops to battlefields abroad while he was striving to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait.

The president was responding to local media reports saying his government had discussed the matter with Washington, believing Taiwan would benefit by having its ties with the U.S. elevated to the level of a quasi-military alliance.

The reports were prompted by a initiative announced last Thursday by two Republican lawmakers active in the congressional Taiwan Caucus, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of California and Rep. Jim Ryun of Kansas.

They introduced a "sense of Congress" resolution calling on President Bush to ask Taiwan to send troops to Iraq, and saying Taipei was studying the feasibility of sending up to 5,000 marines to fight alongside U.S. and other coalition forces.

The resolution was referred to the House International Relations Committee for further consideration.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday Taiwan had not offered troops and the U.S. was not seeking such a contribution.

The U.S. was thankful for Taiwan's financial support, which included $ 4.4 million in humanitarian assistance and an offer to provide computers for Iraq's new education ministry, he said.

Taiwan is only recognized as a sovereign state by a handful of small allies and is not a member of the United Nations. China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, strongly opposes any attempt to legitimize the island democracy in the international community.

Asked whether Taiwan's non-membership in the U.N. would disqualify it from participating in Iraq, Boucher said that was a moot point, as "Taiwan has not offered, nor have we asked."

'Trade-off'

Meanwhile, the suggestion has sparked strong debate in Taiwan, where opposition parties have attacked the government.

An opposition lawmaker, Chou Hsi-wei, called a press conference to accuse senior government officials of striking a secret deal with Washington, implying there would be a "trade-off" of U.S. protection in exchange for Taiwan sending troops.

The government said the charge was pure speculation, and warned such allegations could harm U.S.-Taiwan relations.

Representatives of Taiwan's 50,000-strong Muslim community also opposed any involvement in Iraq.

Some members of Chen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have voiced support for the idea, although others opposed it, questioning the justification for the war.

One supporter, DPP lawmaker Throng Chai was quoted as saying Taiwan should not refuse to send troops to Iraq, because it has been under U.S. protection for the past five decades.

He said two other American allies in East Asia, Japan and South Korea, had both demonstrated their gratitude to the U.S. by dispatching troops to Iraq.

Chai is a former head of Taiwan's main lobby group in the U.S., the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), which some media in Taiwan suggested was behind the congressional resolution.

FAPA president Wu Ming-chi told a press conference in Taipei that the lobby group had not initiated the move, although it had discussed the resolution with Rohrabacher and considered it a good idea as a way to improve Taiwan-U.S. relations.

"Implementation of the resolution would help reduce the burden on the U.S. armed forces in Iraq," Wu said.

"Implementation would not only be the most tangible demonstration of Taiwan's pledge to join the global war on terrorism, it would also demonstrate that Taiwan is a responsible member of the international community and ready, willing and able to take up the responsibilities that come with that status."

It emerged Tuesday that the subject of military deployments in Iraq had been discussed at a forum in Taiwan on May 3, but Deputy Foreign Minister Kau Ying-mao said it was a routine meeting to analyze international affairs, not to decide on a policy.

'Unseemly haste'

Taiwanese newspapers have also waded into the debate.

The English-language Taipei Times said in an editorial the government had acted "with unseemly haste" in announcing that it had not been asked to send troops to Iraq, nor had any intention of doing so.

Conceding that arguments against Taiwan's involvement in Iraq were "compelling" from the point of view of the individual Taiwanese, it said, however, that "they do not necessarily represent the national interest."

The paper asserted that Taiwan owed its very existence as an independent polity to the U.S.

"To a very great degree, Taiwan and its people are able to make plans for the future because of the Taiwan Relations Act," it said, referring to 1979 legislation committing the U.S. to help Taiwan defend itself.

"Surely it ill becomes them to shelter under this umbrella without being willing to offer their most powerful ally something in return."

Taiwan News took a different tack in an editorial, listing some of the problems arising from the war, and noting that some coalition members were withdrawing or considering withdrawing their troops.

"Under such circumstances, it would be rash, to put the matter mildly, for Taiwan to deepen its involvement in the Iraqi morass beyond its current role as a minor supplier of humanitarian assistance."

Taiwan News said the question of sending troops was not a matter of being for or against the U.S., but a question of what values Taiwan stood for.

"The best way to demonstrate our friendship with the United States would be offer our frank advice to Washington to face reality and end this adventure."

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