Two multi-billion dollar US arms deals to supply submarines and destroyers to Taiwan are mired in political and financial troubles, leading defense journal Jane's Defence Weekly said.
The proposed sales of eight diesel-electric submarines and high-tech destroyers "could be shelved by mounting political and financial problems," the London-based magazine said in an article to be published on Wednesday,
US President George W. Bush approved the submarine sale in April 2001 as part of the most comprehensive arms sales to the island since 1992.
However, the deal which could be worth US$11 billion has progressed slowly as the US has not built conventional submarines for more than 40 years.
"Nothing has changed since 2001," Jane's quoted sources in Taiwan as saying.
They said insistence the submarines be built in Taiwan "is very likely going to kill the whole deal," adding that Taiwan lacked the construction and testing infrastructure needed for such a project.
The cabinet in September proposed to Washington that local technicians should be engaged in building the submarines to provide the state-run China Shipbuilding Corporation with the technical expertise.
One key hurdle of the submarine deal is that the US has still not secured a modern design that satisfies Taipei, the defence sources in Taiwan complained.
According to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems president Philip Dur, the company is offering a modernized version of the Barbel-class submarine similar to the USS Blueback, Jane's said.
The offer, Dur said, was being made in partnership "with a European submarine house". Jane's said a US defense official confirmed the company is Germany's Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft.
Germany and Spain had reportedly declined to offer their designs for fear of offending China.
Taiwan has also long sought AEGIS-equipped ships. While Taipei bought four ex-navy Kidd-class destroyers as an interim measure, to date no progress has been made on securing the AEGIS system further than a promise that it would be approved "in principle."
"With the prospect of US policy toward arms sales to the region shifting dramatically if there is a change in administration following the November presidential elections, time for deals could be running out," the weekly said.
The US remains the leading arms supplier to Taiwan despite its shift of diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
Beijing has repeatedly protested against Washington's arms sales to Taiwan.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
RSS