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Subject:
US capable of defending Taiwan: top US commander
Softwar
7/25/2007 8:54:39 AM
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The United States has the capability to swiftly move military forces to defend Taiwan against a potential attack from China, the top US military commander in the Asia-Pacific region said Tuesday.
Admiral Timothy Keating shrugged off suggestions at a Washington forum that the United States, burdened by conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, did not have sufficient forces in the vicinity to respond quickly enough to an incursion on Taiwan by China.
"I don't lose sleep at night over our ability to respond to any crisis anywhere, including the Strait of Taiwan," Keating, the commander of the Pacific Command, declared at the forum organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Although the United States has fewer troops in the "area of responsibility" now than about two decades ago, "We are also capable of moving people around fairly quickly," he pointed out.
"We have ways of watching developments and doing better analyses -- much better than before. So in the Strait of Taiwan, in particular, we could get a large number of forces there in relatively short order," he said.
"The more unambiguous activity we notice and the earlier we make that analysis, obviously the more we can do."
Tension along the Strait of Taiwan, which separates the island from mainland China, had increased in recent months with Taiwan's independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian pushing for a controversial referendum that could draw the wrath of Beijing.
Despite persistent pressure from Washington, Chen said he would press ahead with the referendum on whether the island should apply for UN membership under the name Taiwan.
China, which regards the island as a renegade province awaiting reunification with the mainland, could see it as a unilateral move to change the island's status, triggering a possible conflict, experts say.
Any conflict will drag in the United States, which by law has to help defend Taiwan.
Asked whether the situation was getting better or worse along the Strait of Taiwan with China's growing military strength, Keating said Chen's "rhetoric isn't entirely helpful." |
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