Taiwan is grateful to the US for agreeing to sell four Perry-class guided missile frigates, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday, adding that they would enhance the nation’s defense capabilities and contribute to peace and stability in the region.
China reacted by lodging a formal complaint with the US and calling for an end to arms sales to Taiwan.
US President Barack Obama on Thursday signed into law a bill that authorizes the sale of up to four Perry-class frigates to Taiwan. The US Senate and House of Representatives had both passed the bill earlier this month.
Photo: EPA
The sale of the frigates demonstrates the Obama administration and US Congress’ commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act and support for Taiwan’s security, while also attesting to the mutual friendship and strengthening of bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington, ministry spokesperson Major General David Lo (羅紹和) said.
The government has budgeted about NT$5.5 billion (US$174.8 million) to purchase two Perry-class frigates, Lo said, adding: “The navy will review its needs and decide whether to buy more frigates in the future.”
“The purchase program will follow the military’s arms procurement regulations. We shall be in close contact with our US counterparts to obtain the frigates’ shipboard architecture and weapons systems that are suited to our combat needs,” Lo said.
He added that the sale “will boost our military’s confidence and capability to defend the nation, and help maintain peace and stability in the region.”
The navy will send a team to the US next year in preparation for taking delivery of the frigates, which are expected to arrive in 2016 at the earliest.
The measure approved by the US government will allow the sale of four Perry-class frigates — the USS Gary, USS Carr, USS Taylor and USS Elrod — to Taiwan.
Ministry officials said they would replace the nation’s aging fleet of Knox-class vessels, which have been in service for about 50 years.
The 4,165-tonne Perry-class frigates are designed for marine-patrol warfare, with secondary anti-
aircraft and anti-ship capability.
US Representative Ed Royce, chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, said the arms sales would bolster Taiwan’s maritime security and its critical relationship with the US, as provided for in the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.
“Few other pieces of foreign policy legislation have been as consequential as this act. With steadfast support from the United States Congress, Taiwan has become a thriving modern society that strongly respects human rights, the rule of law and free markets,” Royce said.
The US measure drew an angry reaction from Beijing, with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Qing Gang (秦剛) saying: “China is strongly dissatisfied” with the bill.
“We are firmly opposed to arms sales to Taiwan by the US,” he added, reiterating Beijing’s longstanding position.
“We have launched solemn representations with the US side,” he said, using formal language for a diplomatic protest, adding that Taiwan “remains the most sensitive issue in China-US relations.”
He also called on the US to cut official and military exchanges with Taiwan.
Additional reporting by AFP
RESOLUTE BACKING: Two Republican senators are planning to introduce legislation that would impose immediate sanctions on China if it attempts to invade Taiwan US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson on Sunday reaffirmed US congressional support for Taiwan, saying the US and “all freedom-loving people” have a stake in preventing China from seizing Taiwan by force. Johnson made the remarks in an interview with Fox News Sunday on US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) last week. In an interview that aired on Friday on Fox News, just as Trump wrapped up a high-stakes visit to China, he said he has yet to green-light a new US$14 billion arms package to Taiwan and that it “depends on China.” “It’s a very good
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
US President Donald Trump yesterday said he would speak to President William Lai (賴清德) as his administration considers whether to move ahead with a US$14 billion weapons sale to Taiwan — a potential arms deal that has drawn criticism from China. “Well, I’ll speak to him. I speak to everybody,” Trump told reporters yesterday when asked if he had any plans to call his counterpart, although he did not offer a time frame for when such a conversation could take place. Trump previously said he would speak to the person “that’s running Taiwan,” without specifying who he meant. “We have that situation very
RSS