Powell Pledges Continued Arms Aid to Taipei, Agence France Presse, Oct. 5, 2001

Secretary of State Colin Powell said that Chinese assistance in a US-led anti-terrorism coalition would in no way affect US policy towards Taiwan, including arms sales to the island.

Mr Powell told a small group of reporters at the State Department that Taiwan had nothing to fear from closer US-Chinese cooperation on the anti-terrorism front.

'Those who depend on us to some extent for their sense of security like Taiwan should have no fear that somehow their sense of security has been or will be weakened,' Mr Powell said.

Despite China's denials that it had demanded reduced US arms sales to Taiwan in exchange for its cooperation against terrorism, many in Taipei remain concerned.

The two sides of the Taiwan Strait were separated in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but Beijing regards Taiwan as a rebel province awaiting reunification.

On Tuesday, a Taipei newspaper reported that the US had finished assessing the Taiwanese army's combat capability in preparation for deciding on what arms to sell to the island next year.

The review focused on Taiwan's readiness to fend off a naval invasion and the army's capacity to fight a joint war with other forces.

In April, much to China's anger, Washington announced the most comprehensive arms package to Taipei since 1992, including four Kidd-class destroyers, eight diesel submarines and 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft.

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