Wolfowitz says US will OK Taiwan arms deal

President Bush is committed to an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan, former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz said Wednesday, amid reports that the U.S. is freezing such sales to the island to avoid angering China. Wolfowitz, a former World Bank chief, is now the chairman of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, a nonprofit organization working to develop trade and business between the United States and Taiwan. He made his comments a week after the top U.S. military commander in the Pacific confirmed the freeze on U.S. arms sales in Taiwan. Beijing claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has threatened war if the island moves to make its 1949 break from China permanent. Wolfowitz told reporters in Taipei that Bush is committed to the arms package the administration approved in April 2001, two months after Wolfowitz became the Pentagon's No. 2. Among the items in the package are Patriot III anti-missile missiles and Apache helicopters. "President Bush treats commitments as commitments," Wolfowitz said. "I would just predict these will be approved". Wolfowitz said that when Admiral Timothy Keating of the U.S. Pacific Command acknowledged the arms sales freeze, he was not speaking for the U.S. government. Taiwanese press has speculated that Bush is holding off the arms sales in the wake of the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing to avoid angering China. Bush is attending the opening ceremonies and the first few days of the Aug. 8-24 games.