The Bush administration officially told Congress for the first time on Friday the details of Taiwan's request for advanced weapons, and appeared to be paving the way for a package of arms sales to Taiwan that China vigorously opposes.
The Taiwan shopping list was unveiled a few days before the arrival of China's deputy prime minister, Qian Qichen (錢其琛), whose explicit purpose is to impress upon President Bush his country's opposition to one of Taiwan's major requests: guided-missile destroyers equipped with the Aegis radar system.
The Chinese have argued that the sale of the Aegis system fitted to Arleigh-Burke-class destroyers would give Taiwan a precursor to a theater missile defense for Taiwan and, thus, would significantly sour relations between Beijing and Washington.
Some conservative Republicans in Congress are stepping up the pressure on the White House to go ahead with the sale and are casting the decision as a test of the new administration's resolve on China.
The Bush administration, which includes senior officials who have advocated a more robust US defense of Taiwan, has begun the decision-making process on the Taiwan sales. The decision on what to sell Taiwan is usually made every year in mid-April.
Several major players in the administration, including Richard Armitage, nominated to be deputy secretary of state, as well as Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, signed a 1999 letter calling for a more vigorous defense of Taiwan.
At Friday's closed-door session on Capitol Hill, a senior State Department China expert, Darryl Johnson, and a senior Pentagon official, Fred Smith, told Republican and Democratic staff members that among Taiwan's requests were the Aegis-equipped destroyers, P-3 Orion aircraft used for detecting submarines, and sophisticated command and control communications.
The Aegis system is particularly distressing to the Chinese because they see it as leading to a missile-defense system that could provide a shield over Taiwan. Taiwan seeks the Aegis system to counter Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan from China.
The Clinton administration deferred a decision last year on selling Taiwan the Arleigh-Burke-class destroyers equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Aegis radar systems. Although it declined to sell the Aegis system, the Clinton administration sold Taiwan US$20 billion in arms, according to the Congressional Research Service.
Beijing, believing that the Bush administration appears inclined to make a big sale to Taiwan this year, has unleashed a diplomatic effort and Qian's visit is seen as a crucial part of its strategy.
If the administration decides to sell the Aegis systems and persuades Congress to go along, it would be the most significant sale of weaponry to Taiwan since former president George Bush sold 150 F-16 aircraft to Taiwan during the 1992 presidential campaign.
Aside from the Aegis systems, other Taiwan requests that were discussed today at the Capitol Hill briefing were Kidd-class destroyers, P-3 Orion aircraft and high-speed anti-radiation missiles, known as HARM.
According to Taiwanese press accounts, the military wants four Kidd destroyers. Some military experts point out that Kidds could be sold to Taiwan immediately.
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