The US no longer makes diesel-powered submarines, so its promise to sell eight of the vessels to Taiwan -- offered by US President George W. Bush's government in 2001 -- has now become the thorniest and perhaps the most expensive arms deal in US history. The deal has caused disputes in Taiwan and within the Bush administration. Some US officials have even criticized one another.
The point is: What does Taiwan really want?
If it really must buy the submarines, it should assign manpower and resources to clarify the nation's military priorities rather than dancing to the tunes of different US departments or officials.
Taiwan needs to form a special team for the purchase, instead of solely depending on the US Navy. If it wants to negotiate the price, it should do its homework first.
In fact, US officials revealed that General Dynamics -- which is seeking to win the submarine contract -- has come up with a budget much lower than that of the US Navy International Programs Office (NIPO). But it is unwilling to pressure the navy by way of the Congress or the media because it fears losing it as a client.
As for Northrop Grumman, it has not found any foreign partners and can only re-open costly conventional-submarine production lines in the US. That's why the company supports the expensive US$11.7 billion (almost NT$400 billion) purchase plan proposed by the US Navy.
It is possible to negotiate a reasonable price with the US companies. Taiwan's leaders must take responsibility for making a decision. US officials are highly concerned about the rumor that the US has intentionally raised the price to kill the deal. Some of them have said that Taiwan has tried hard for years to buy US submarines during the annual Taiwan-US arms talks.
The US and Taiwan had discussed submarines for three years before the deal. The US began studying the possibility in 1999, and decided in 2000 that Washington should sell the diesel-powered submarines to Taipei.
After Bush came to power, the US authorities immediately briefed decision-makers on the matter. Later, the Bush administration officially announced its plan to sell submarines to Taiwan in 2001.
Today, some Taiwanese politicians have criticized Washington for forcing Taipei to buy submarines.
Such criticism is unfair to our US friends who helped Taiwan with their political and economic resources.
Another point that needs clarification is whether the purchase needs to be tied to the rescue of Taiwan's state-run China Shipbuilding. Is there no other way for the government to save the company? Not only can the submarines function in anti-submarine warfare, but they can also serve the function of strategic deterrence.
Taiwan should not confuse its priorities by sacrificing this important deal just because the US does not allow China Shipbuilding to build the submarines.
According to Fu S. Mei (
The highly changeable international community is giving Taiwan a second chance now. Can Taiwan understand its own national interests?
Nadia Tsao is a US correspondent for the Liberty Times.
TRANSLATED BY EDDY CHANG
Yesterday’s recall and referendum votes garnered mixed results for the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). All seven of the KMT lawmakers up for a recall survived the vote, and by a convincing margin of, on average, 35 percent agreeing versus 65 percent disagreeing. However, the referendum sponsored by the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on restarting the operation of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County failed. Despite three times more “yes” votes than “no,” voter turnout fell short of the threshold. The nation needs energy stability, especially with the complex international security situation and significant challenges regarding
Most countries are commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II with condemnations of militarism and imperialism, and commemoration of the global catastrophe wrought by the war. On the other hand, China is to hold a military parade. According to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, Beijing is conducting the military parade in Tiananmen Square on Sept. 3 to “mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the victory of the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.” However, during World War II, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) had not yet been established. It
A recent critique of former British prime minister Boris Johnson’s speech in Taiwan (“Invite ‘will-bes,’ not has-beens,” by Sasha B. Chhabra, Aug. 12, page 8) seriously misinterpreted his remarks, twisting them to fit a preconceived narrative. As a Taiwanese who witnessed his political rise and fall firsthand while living in the UK and was present for his speech in Taipei, I have a unique vantage point from which to say I think the critiques of his visit deliberately misinterpreted his words. By dwelling on his personal controversies, they obscured the real substance of his message. A clarification is needed to
There is an old saying that if there is blood in the water, the sharks will come. In Taiwan’s case, that shark is China, circling, waiting for any sign of weakness to strike. Many thought the failed recall effort was that blood in the water, a signal for Beijing to press harder, but Taiwan’s democracy has just proven that China is mistaken. The recent recall campaign against 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators, many with openly pro-Beijing leanings, failed at the ballot box. While the challenge targeted opposition lawmakers rather than President William Lai (賴清德) himself, it became an indirect
RSS