Translated from the China Times

June 6, 2000

Tien Hung-mao supports, favors Taiwan Security Enhancement Act

Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Hung-mao said yesterday that the passage of a bill entitled the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act (TSEA) by the U.S. House of Representatives shows that the U.S. supports improving our national security.

He said that the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of State have different views on the TSEA, but while there are some people in government who are overly concerned about the reaction of the U.S. Department of State" he basically supports and favors the Act.

Previously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs official statement on the TSEA has been that this legislative action was a domestic matter of the United States and that our side would be happy to see the passage of any measure that would be helpful to Taiwan’s security.

During an interpellation yesterday, Legislator Yen Ching-fu said that the failure of our side to promote the TSEA and make our attitude towards it clearly known had caused many members of the U.S. Congress who support Taiwan to be unclear about our attitude. This, he said, hindered the coalescence of forces favorable to us.

Tien Hung-mao pointed out that we would be happy to see any action by the U.S. Congress to boost Taiwan’s security, but he also expressed his hope that our missions abroad would be more proactive on this matter. For example, our side could do more to evaluate when there might be a sufficient number of votes. He also said that he feels that some people in government are overly concerned about the reaction of the U.S. Department of State.