No AEGIS, but hefty package offered

In what will be the largest US arms sale since 1992, President George W. Bush has offered Taiwan a substantial package of weapons including four Kidd-class destroyers and eight diesel submarines. But the administration in Washington has decided to "defer" the sale of AEGIS-equipped destroyers that Taiwan's navy had eagerly sought.

The sale, with an estimated value of some US$4 billion, will be by far the largest since Bush's father in 1992 decided to sell Taiwan 150 F-16 fighters.

However, the administration has rejected for now some major items on Taipei's shopping list, including high-speed anti-radiation missiles (HARM) which can knock out an enemy's radar at surface-to-air missile sites, joint direct attack munitions (JDAM) capable of attacking missile positions inside China, Apache helicopters and M1 tanks.

On Taiwan's plate are 12 P-3 Orion submarine-hunting aircraft, MH-53H minesweeping helicopters, the Paladin self-propelled artillery system, AAV7A1 amphibious assault vehicles, MK 48 torpedoes, the Avenger surface-to-air missile system, submarine-launched and surface-launched torpedoes, and aircraft survivability equipment.

While the administration apparently declined to sell the PAC-3 missile defense system, it did agree to supply a technical briefing on the Patriot anti-missile system Taiwan has been developing.

The administration apparently has also decided against moving from Arizona to Taiwan the AIM-120 air-to-air missiles President Clinton decided to sell Taiwan last year. Taiwan is to take delivery of the missiles after China acquires similar missiles from Russia.

Not ready for AEGIS

In deciding to defer the AEGIS sale, White House officials said they did not think Taiwan is capable of handling the system. Whether Taiwan gets the vessels armed with the powerful AEGIS radar and battle management systems will depend in part on China's actions, the officials said.

In any event, officials briefing reporters said that the AEGIS would still be available to Taiwan by 2010, whether or not they were sold this year.

In contrast, the Kidds, while utilizing older technology, can be available by 2003 and could provide the navy with significant training opportunities.

China immediately hit out at the arms sales. "The Chinese side expresses its concern over the reports" of the sale, foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue (章啟月) said. She singled out the Kidds, P-3s and submarines.

Earlier, Chinese Ambassador to Washington, Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪), issued a strong warning that the sales would be "destabilizing."

"Continued US sales of advanced weapons to Taiwan threatens China's national security, violates its sovereignty, and emboldens the separatist forces on that Chinese island," he said, using rhetoric that many have come to expect from Beijing. "Such sales are bound to destabilize the situation across the Taiwan Strait and in the Asia Pacific region." Yang warned that if Washington does not handle the Taiwan situation "appropriately," Sino-US relations will "falter and even retrogress."

'Nothing for China to fear'

However, the White House tried to assuage such sentiments. "We think there is nothing in this package for China to fear," one White House official said, echoing words Bush told Chinese Vice Premier Qian Qichen (錢其琛) during a visit to Washington last month.