Ma Ying-jeou seeks to quiet doubts about Taiwan’s defence

Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou travelled to the defence outpost of Quemoy to boost the military's morale yesterday, as the United States reaffirmed its commitment to sell arms to Taiwan.

Ma's trip to the Taiwanese stronghold just off the mainland came after a public outcry over the detention death of a young soldier that shook confidence in the island's willingness to defend itself.

Ma also used the occasion to rebut mainland media reports this week claiming that Washington "responded positively" when approached by Beijing about a proposal to set up a working group on arms sales to Taiwan.

"We must not relax our combat readiness and we will continue to purchase arms from the United States," Ma said. Taipei officials had found the report to be false after checking "through different channels", he said.

The US State Department said Washington would continue to honour its commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act, which requires the US to sell defensive arms to the island.

"We believe this long-standing policy contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said at a briefing on Thursday.

During his visit to Quemoy, which came on the 55th anniversary of an artillery battle with the mainland, Ma praised the military and defended his administration's handling of the death of Taiwanese army corporal Hung Chung-chiu.