With US-China ties under major strain over an American surveillance plane, President George W. Bush must decide by tomorrow whether to sell the world's most advanced warships to Taiwan over opposition from Beijing.
Taiwan has asked for four US$1 billion Arleigh Burke Class destroyers equipped with AEGIS defense systems designed to detect and attack dozens of missiles, aircraft and ships at once.
In an annual military package from Washington, Taiwan also wants diesel-electric submarines of German or Dutch design with US technology, an advanced Patriot antimissile defense known as PAC-3 and Lockheed Martin Corp P-3 maritime search and anti-submarine aircraft.
Experts expect Bush to provide less sophisticated destroyers than the Burkes to Taiwan this year, but possibly to warn China that it must stop stationing missiles along its coastline targeted across the Taiwan Strait.
Senior State and Defense Department officials have recommended that Bush sell older and less-sophisticated Kidd Class destroyers to Taipei instead of the Arleigh Burkes. His final decision will be given to a delegation from Taiwan at the Pentagon tomorrow.
China objects to the sale of these weapons under a US law which requires presidents to provide for Taiwan's legitimate defensive needs. A Chinese official in Washington last week predicted a "devastating impact" on US-China relations if the US decided to sell weapons to Taiwan.
Chinese Embassy spokesman Zhang Yuanyuan (
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