11-14-07

中國批評美國對台灣軍售 (China Criticizes US Arms Sale to Taiwan)

中國敦促美國取消一宗對臺灣的武器銷售，並且批評擬議推出的支援台灣加入聯合國的法案。中國外交部發言人劉建超星期二督促華盛頓方面遵守減少對台灣提供武器的承諾。他還批評上星期向美國國會一個委員會提交的一項支援台灣加入聯合國的法案。

美國國防部官員星期二通知美國國會，可能對台灣出售愛國者導彈防禦系統的性能提升裝備，總價值達9億3千9百萬美元。五角大樓說，對台灣的武器銷售將有助於加強台灣的安全。

China has urged the United States to cancel a proposed arms sale to Taiwan and criticized proposed legislation supporting the island's membership to the United Nations. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao on Tuesday urged Washington to honor its commitment to reduce weapons transfers to Taiwan. He also criticized legislation backing Taiwan's U.N. membership bid presented to a Congressional committee last week.

U.S. Defense Department officials informed lawmakers Tuesday of the possible sale of a Patriot missile defense system upgrade worth up to 939 million dollars. The Pentagon says the weapons sale will help strengthen Taiwan's security.

美民主黨人稱伊阿戰爭隱含費用是公佈數字兩倍 (US Democrats Say Hidden Costs Double Price of Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan)

美國國會民主黨人士說，伊拉克和阿富汗戰爭的費用估計總計為1萬6千億美元，比白宮迄今為止所要求的戰爭撥款幾乎多出一倍。美國國會參眾兩院經濟事務聯合委員會中的民主黨籍議員星期二發佈一份報告，列出了他們稱這兩大戰爭一些“隱含費用”。

白宮女發言人佩裏諾星期二對媒體說，這篇報告有政治目的，是試圖貶低正在從伊拉克傳出的積極進展消息。美國總統布希星期二在一次演講中要求國會批准他提出的在耶誕節之前向伊拉克戰爭追加500億美元開支的要求。

眾議院民主黨籍議員正準備討論一項法案，準備提供這筆戰爭撥款，但前提是白宮方面同意在30天內開始將美軍撤出伊拉克，並以2008年12月15日之前從伊拉克撤出大部分美軍作戰部隊為目標。

U.S. congressional Democrats say the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is estimated to total 1.6 trillion dollars, nearly twice the amount requested by the White House so far. Democrats on the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee released a report Tuesday outlining what they called the "hidden costs" of the two conflicts.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Tuesday told the media the report has political motivations and is an attempt to discount positive developments being reported out of Iraq. During a speech Tuesday, President Bush called on Congress to grant his request for 50 billion dollars in additional Iraq spending before Christmas.

House Democrats are preparing to discuss legislation that would grant that funding in exchange for an agreement to start redeploying U.S. forces from Iraq within 30 days, with the goal of pulling most combat troops out by December 15th of 2008.