Taiwan needs Kidds, MND's Tang says

Minister of National Defense Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) said yesterday that in order to counter Beijing's growing force of submarines and to keep the sea lanes open in time of conflict, Taiwan needs Kidd-class destroyers.

"China's submarines still pose a potential threat to Taiwan's security. We need the Kidd mainly because of its excellent anti-submarine capabilities," Tang said.

"Taiwan is an island nation. We count on sea traffic for exports and imports. The sea lanes are our economic life lines and must be protected," he said.

Tang made the remarks yesterday during a break in his closed-door testimony before the legislature's Defense Committee and in response to inquiries from the press over why the military is so determined to acquire the four Kidd-class destroyers, despite opposition from quite a number lawmakers on the committee.

Before the meeting, the military made a point of visiting every lawmaker on the Defense Committee in an attempt to persuade its members to support the purchase of the ships.

Despite their best efforts, however, most Defense Committee members present yesterday remained reluctant to stand behind the deal.

Committee member Lin Nan-sheng (林南生), a KMT lawmaker, said the military told legislators that the US is willing to reduce the price of the four Kidds by five percent.

"The price reduction is good. But that isn't our main consideration. We are much more concerned about the fact that maintenance and repair fees for the four Kidds will be much higher than the cost of purchasing them," Lin said.

Lin also said that while the US says it is willing give a five-percent discount on the purchase of the ships, it is not prepared to reduce the cost of overhauling the four decommissioned destroyers before delivery.

The sale price of the four Kidds is set at NT$28.4 billion, not including the cost of overhauling and renewing equipment and weapons systems. The sonar of the Kidd, for instance, needs to be upgraded, the cost of which is estimated at NT$350 million for the four ships, a naval official said.